‘We will build the wall’ World
Trump planning to sign executive orders on immigration
US President Donald Trump plans to sign executive orders today enabling construction of his proposed wall on the US-Mexico border and targeting cities where local leaders refuse to hand over illegal immigrants for deportation, according to White House officials familiar with the decisions.
The actions, part of a multi-day focus on immigration, are among an array of sweeping and immediate changes to the nation’s immigration system under consideration by the new President. The moves represent Trump’s first effort to deliver on perhaps the signature issue that drove his presidential campaign: his belief that illegal immigration is out of control and threatening the country’s safety and security.
Trump has already used executive orders to scrap the TPP by executive order, freeze federal hiring and reinstate a ban on providing federal funding to aid groups that perform abortions.
Trump’s immigration blitz this week is widely seen inside the White House as a victory for the selfdescribed populist wing of his inner circle.
But discussions were ongoing yesterday about just how far to go on some policies, in particular the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme, known as DACA. The 2012 initiative has given temporary protection from deportation to hundreds of thousands of people who arrived in the United States as children. Trump vowed during the campaign to reverse it.
Officials are considering, but have not decided yet, whether to indefinitely shut down the programme that allows refugees from Syria into the US. Trump may also put the entire refugee programme for all countries on hold for four months, according to an administration official familiar with the options under discussion.
Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall! Trump tweet
A White House official said that Trump will also potentially bar for 30 days any travel to the US from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — all Muslim-majority countries — until new visa procedures are developed. Residents from many of these places are already rarely granted US visas. Trump may ask DHS and the director of National Intelligence to evaluate whether immigrants are being adequately screened for potential terrorist ties.
Trump plans to speak to a town hall of employees at the Department of Homeland Security’s headquarters in Washington, where he is expected to sign the orders relating to the wall and “sanctuary cities”.
Trump tweeted: “Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!”
The effort to crack down on these localities will resonate with the Republican base, which has long criticised local officials who refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Several people familiar with the discussions emphasised that the week’s actions are intended to start fulfilling Trump’s campaign promises on immigration and bring Republicans behind him on the issue.
Any immigration measures announced by the President will set up a fierce battle between the White House and advocates for immigrants, who were reacting with alarm as word spread that immigration was on the table.
House Republicans have said they plan to fund the barrier wall, which some experts have estimated will cost more than US$20 billion. But experts say the wall would face numerous obstacles, such as environ- mental and engineering problems and fights with ranchers and others who would resist giving up their land. Trump has also promised to beef up immigration enforcement along the border and inside the US — including a tripling of the number of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents — in an expensive and logistically difficult operation to remove millions of people from the country.
Perhaps most in dispute were Trump’s campaign comments on Muslims. He called at one point for a ban on all Muslims entering the US and said he would halt immigration from Syria and deport Syrian refugees. suggesting that she would not “take a bullet” for Trump. Kelly O’Grady, the special agent in charge for the Denver district, also added “I am with her,” a nod to the Hillary Clinton slogan. O’Grady’s comments were made in October. Service spokeswoman Cathy Milhoan declined to say what actions were being taken in response. O’Grady said she regretted it.