Brace yourself for news reels of sobbing illegal aliens and heart tugging-news stories about the nicest, sweetest, law-breaking people getting the boot from the United States. Mean old President Donald Trump’s executive orders are taking shape.
Before he took office, Trump was clear that illegal crossings won’t be tolerated anymore. On Inauguration Day — the same day a Vermont Border Patrol agent was shot dead at a traffic stop — the new administration unveiled how Trump plans to work, through executive orders, to start cleaning up the massive mess left by former President Joe Biden and his handlers.
Here are nine actions Trump announced Monday to start addressing the invasion at the southern border.
Declare a National Emergency at the Border
This executive order paves the way for officials to neutralize drones “within 5 miles of the southern border” and erect physical barriers. It also directs the DOD to send additional personnel to the border, including members of the armed forces and the National Guard.
Clarify the Military’s Role in Protecting the Territorial Integrity of the U.S.
Within 10 days of the effective date of this order, the Secretary of Defense must deliver a plan to task military forces with “seal[ing] the borders and maintain[ing] the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States. This will involve “repelling forms of invasion including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities,” according to the order.
The order states it is the “policy of the United States” that the military “prioritize the protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of U.S. borders.
End ‘Catch-and-Release’ And Reinstate ‘Remain in Mexico‘
Trump has announced plans to end “Biden’s catch-and-release policies” and reinstate “Remain in Mexico,” which Biden revoked. Remain in Mexico requires asylum seekers to wait in Mexico, often for months, for their immigration hearing in U.S. court. This policy makes the journey to the U.S. border less attractive for bogus asylum seekers. The policy is ripe for legislative action because Congress already knows what happens when the policy is in place or absent.
Biden’s plan allowed so-called asylum seekers to download an app on their cell phones and essentially disappear, roaming the United States until their hearing date — assuming they attend at all. After Trump was sworn in on Monday, the CBP One app was shut off and all appointments were canceled. Cue the crying aliens, who have been warned this was going to happen. Trump has also announced plans to finish the border wall and deport illegal aliens.
Designate Criminal Cartels and Gangs as Foreign Terrorist Organizations
Certain gangs and criminal cartels will be designated as foreign terrorist organizations or specifically designated global terrorists whose members can be removed from the United States under the Alien Enemies Act. For example, the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua will be considered “an irregular armed force of Venezuela’s government conducting a predatory incursion and invasion into the United States,” an incoming White House official said Monday on a call with the media.
Trump’s order describes the cartels as having control, “through a campaign of assassination, terror, rape, and brute force,” of “nearly all illegal traffic across the southern border of the United States.”
“In certain portions of Mexico, they function as quasi-governmental entities, controlling nearly all aspects of society. The cartels’ activities threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere,” the order reads. “Their activities, proximity to, and incursions into the physical territory of the United States pose an unacceptable national security risk to the United States.”
Suspend Refugee Resettlement
For at least four months, refugee resettlement will be suspended, the White House official said on the media call. Under taxpayer-funded efforts like the “refugee resettlement program,” refugees have received assistance including cash payments, medical assistance, job training and placement, loans to start a small business, language training, and food through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program.
A Monday executive order declared that “[i]t is the policy of the United States to ensure that public safety and national security are paramount considerations in the administration of the [U.S. Refugee Admissions Program], and to admit only those refugees who can fully and appropriately assimilate into the United States.” The order also declared it policy to “ensure that the United States preserves taxpayer resources for its citizens.”
Illegal Aliens Won’t Be Eligible for Asylum
Trump and his incoming administration announced plans on Monday to end “asylum for illegal border crossers.”
“We are going to end asylum and close the border to illegals, via proclamation,” an official on the media call said. This policy will stop rewarding those who enter the United States illegally and then request asylum. They will be removed immediately “without possibility of asylum,” the official said. This is an incentive for those who entered improperly to leave on their own.
End Birthright Citizenship for Children of Illegal Aliens
This order says that “the privilege of United States citizenship does not automatically extend” to those born in the U.S. whose parents were unlawfully or temporarily present in the country.
Illegals will argue the 14th Amendment grants citizenship to “anchor babies” born in the U.S. It 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’s executive order, as an official noted during the media call, zeros in on the phrase “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” clarifying that children of illegal aliens do not fall under that category.
“We are … going to enhance vetting and screening of illegal aliens. We are going to direct agencies to report to the president regarding recommendations for the suspension of entry for nationals of any country of particular concern,” the official said.
Protecting Americans Against Invasion
This effort “rescinds the open borders policies of the Biden administration” and authorizes Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection to deport illegal aliens from the U.S., an official told media on the call. It also establishes federal Homeland Security Task Forces to cooperate with state and local law enforcement in the “removal of gangs, criminals, and illegal aliens.”
“Over the last 4 years, the prior administration invited, administered, and oversaw an unprecedented flood of illegal immigration into the United States,” the order signed by Trump on Monday reads, adding that “[m]illions of illegal aliens … were permitted to fly directly into the United States on commercial flights and allowed to settle in American communities, in violation of longstanding federal laws.”
“Many of these aliens, unlawfully within the United States, present significant threats to national security and public safety, committing vile and heinous acts against innocent Americans,” the order reads. “Others are engaged in hostile activities, including espionage, economic espionage, and preparations for terror-related activities. Many have abused the generosity of the American people, and their presence in the United States has cost taxpayers billions of dollars at the Federal, State, and local levels.”
Restore the Death Penalty
Trump said he would be tough on crime. This order directs the attorney general to seek capital punishment for the murder of law enforcement officers and capital crimes committed by illegal aliens. It also encourages state attorneys general and district attorneys to bring capital charges for these crimes.
“[F]or too long, politicians and judges who oppose capital punishment have defied and subverted the laws of our country,” Trump’s order reads. “At every turn, they seek to thwart the execution of lawfully imposed capital sentences and choose to enforce their personal beliefs rather than the law.”
The order notes that when Biden took office in 2021, he allowed his Department of Justice “to issue a moratorium on Federal executions, in defiance of his duty to faithfully execute the laws of the United States that provide for capital punishment.” (Last month, Biden also commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 murderers on Federal death row.)
“Our Founders knew well that only capital punishment can bring justice and restore order in response to such evil,” the order reads.
In his last term, Trump’s policies faced smears and lawsuits from well-funded nonprofit groups and the media. The Trump administration is sure to face similar battles this time, but it is also likely to find increased public support as Americans have seen financial burdens and the culture-changing effects of neighborhoods and towns flooded with illegal aliens.
Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.
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