With 10 quick signatures on Monday, newly inaugurated President Trump sought to demolish the Biden administration’s immigration framework and launch what promises to be the stiffest border in U.S. history.
Aides said he was signing orders and proclamations that would label the waves of migrants an “invasion,” proclaim a national border emergency, revive his Remain in Mexico policy and order the Pentagon into the battle to turn the tide.
Mr. Trump will also harness the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a leftover from the founding era that allows detention and deportation of hostile forces, to be used against Tren de Aragua and other violent international cartels and gangs.
And Mr. Trump will flex executive powers to end birthright citizenship, denying children of illegal immigrants an automatic place in the U.S. — and removing at least one incentive that draws migrants to the country.
All told, Mr. Trump planned 10 executive actions intended to erase the openness of the Biden years, restore the stiff enforcement of the first Trump administration, and blaze more new ground.
“All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the place from which they came,” Mr. Trump said in his inaugural address. “We will reinstate my Remain in Mexico policy. I will end the practice of catch and release. And I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country.”
No other issue has seen a pendulum swing as large as immigration over the last eight years, as surges of migrants have attempted to breach the southern border.
Mr. Trump, in his first term, responded with severity, leaving the most secure border in modern times when he departed in 2021. President Biden wiped that away, proclaiming an era of openness — and ushering in the worst border in history.
Now Mr. Trump is back and promising to go even further this time.
Even with those promises, the swiftness and breadth of the Day 1 moves were breathtaking — and dismaying to immigrant rights advocates, who vowed to resist in every way they could.
“Today is a dark day in American history, with cruel and dangerous consequences for our immigrant communities and everyone who calls America home,” said Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition.
Mr. Trump flirted with ending birthright citizenship during his first term, but he never followed through.
SEE ALSO: Senate passes Laken Riley Act to detain more illegal immigrants
Most legal scholars say a president can’t unilaterally alter the policy, which requires at least an act of Congress or perhaps an amendment to the Constitution, which currently reads: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
Trump officials, though, said there’s room for the president to maneuver because illegal immigrants don’t qualify as “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S.
That would “gut 150 years of settles law,” said Vanessa Cardenas, executive director of America’s Voice, an immigrant advocacy group.
The courts are likely to be roped into refereeing the birthright citizenship move. They could also end up deciding cases on his attempt to curtail asylum claims at the border and, depending on how far he takes it, his use of the Alien Enemies Act to speed deportations of migrants he deems dangerous.
Mr. Trump said he would use the 1798 law to “eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks.”
A White House official, briefing reporters Monday morning, said Mr. Trump’s orders to the military would direct them to prioritize securing the border, elevating the military to a domestic role it hasn’t played since Pancho Villa threatened the border a century ago.
Decisions on how many troops to use remain to be worked out.
Mr. Trump will also order the next Homeland Security and Defense Department secretaries to finish his border wall. He built more than 450 miles of barrier in his first term and had hundreds more miles planned until Mr. Biden shut down construction, leaving materials to rust.
The new administration will order a four-month pause in accepting refugees and will work on recommendations to suspend admissions of “aliens of concern.”
The White House said Mr. Trump will also ask the Justice Department to pursue the death penalty in cases where illegal immigrants “maim and murder” Americans.
Mr. Trump’s declaration of the border as an “invasion” could loom large.
The Constitution attaches specific duties to the government — and grants states some latitude to act — when an invasion is ongoing.
GOP-led states such as Texas have argued the migrant surge under Mr. Biden has constituted an invasion. The Biden administration fought that label.
Even as Mr. Trump acted Monday, Congress was also looking to deliver on immigration.
The Senate passed the Laken Riley Act, which directs Homeland Security to detain and try to deport illegal immigrants who commit a rash of crimes, including some relatively lower-level offenses.
Named after a Georgia nursing student slain by an illegal immigrant, the legislation is intended to get migrants off the streets once they commit crimes and prevent them from engaging in escalating criminal behavior.
It applies to those accused or convicted of theft, burglary and shoplifting, as well as migrants who assault law enforcement or who kill or seriously injure another person.
The bill cleared the Senate on a bipartisan 64-35 vote.
It goes to the House for a final vote, which is expected later this week, and then heads to Mr. Trump for his signature.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.