What Trump might do on his first day in the White House

Deportation

Trump has vowed to “launch the largest deportation program in American history”, starting from day one.

He is expected to declare a national border emergency, and order the military to help secure the southern border, according to Fox News.

Trump has also said he would end a long-standing policy that prevented federal immigration authorities from raiding churches and schools.

Any mass deportation program is expected to face logistical difficulties, billions in costs and numerous legal challenges.

Stay in Mexico

Trump could move quickly to reimplement the “Stay in Mexico” policy, which during his first term returned about 70,000 non-Mexican asylum seekers across the border to Mexico to await trial.

End of birthright citizenship

Trump called the 150-year-old constitutional right that says anyone born on US soil is an American citizen “ridiculous” and vowed to repeal it on day one.

But doing so is more difficult than simply issuing an executive order, because birthright citizenship is explicitly guaranteed by the US Constitution.

Close the border on health grounds

A 1944 measure called Title 42 allowed the US government to curb migration to protect public health. The latter was used during the pandemic, but US media reported that the incoming administration was looking for a disease that would help with its plan to close the US’s southern border with Mexico.

Drug cartels

Trump is expected to classify drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations”, placing them on a list with groups such as Al Qaeda, the so-called Islamic State and Hamas.

Build a wall

When Trump was first elected president in 2016, he signed an executive order to build a border wall. Although part of the wall has been built, there are still many left unfinished, and he can try to finish what he started.