Trump declares national border emergency in immigration crackdown
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President begins issuing flood of immigration-related executive orders after being sworn into office. Donald Trump on Monday began issuing a barrage of executive orders aimed at making good on his central campaign promise to crack down on immigration and unauthorized crossings at the US-Mexico border.
From the White House on Monday, Trump signed an order declaring a national emergency and paving the way to send US troops to the southern border. He also attempted an audacious move to redefine who gets to become an American under the US constitution.
“I will declare a national emergency at our southern border,” Trump had said earlier in his inaugural address on Monday, moments after being sworn into office in Washington. “All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places in which they came.”.
Speaking in the Capitol rotunda just feet from Joe Biden, Trump delivered a stinging rebuke of his predecessor’s border policy. His vow to declare a national emergency drew a standing ovation from his supporters but also from a few Democrats in attendance.
Before the inauguration ceremony, an incoming White House official previewed additional border-related actions the new president would prioritize on his first day, stating that Trump would aim to suspend refugee resettlement for “at least four months,” “end asylum,” reinstate a first-term policy forcing people seeking asylum to wait in Mexico while their cases are processed, and move to end birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed under the 14th amendment, by directing the federal government not to recognize the children of undocumented immigrants.
