US President Donald Trump plans to launch a sweeping immigration crackdown on Monday that directs military troops to assist with U.S.-Mexico border security, cuts off asylum at the border, and challenges U.S. citizenship for children born to parents in the U.S. illegally, an incoming Trump official said.
Trump intends to declare illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border a national emergency to support border wall construction and send additional troops to the border, the incoming official said, requesting anonymity as a condition of a call with reporters. Trump will issue a sweeping proclamation that aims to block access to all asylum at the Mexico border, the official said.
Trump, a Republican, recaptured the White House after promising to intensify border security and deport record numbers of immigrants in the U.S. illegally. While Trump criticized Democrat Joe Biden for high levels of illegal immigration during his presidency, migrant arrests fell dramatically after Biden toughened his policies in June and as Mexico stepped up enforcement.
Biden v/s Trump
Republicans say large-scale deportations are necessary after millions of immigrants crossed illegally during Biden’s presidency. There were roughly 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally or with a temporary status at the start of 2022, according to a U.S. government estimate, a figure that some analysts now place at 13 million to 14 million.
Americans have grown less welcoming toward immigrants without legal status since Trump’s first presidency, but remain wary of harsh measures such as using detention camps, a Reuters/Ipsos poll in December found.
Trump intends to take 10 executive orders and actions on Monday aimed at stepping up border security, the official said.
“The last four years have created an unconscionable risk to public safety, public health, and the national security of the United States due to the Biden administration border policies,” the official said, calling illegal immigration an “invasion.”
Trump will take steps intended to end birthright citizenship for U.S.-born children whose parents lack legal immigration status, the official said, a move that will almost certainly trigger legal challenges. He plans to suspend the U.S. refugee resettlement program for at least four months and will order a review of security to see if travelers from certain nations should be subject to a travel ban.
Immigration Enforcement
Kristi Noem, Trump’s pick for Homeland Security secretary, said at a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing on Friday that she would end Biden-era legal entry programs that have allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants to enter the U.S. temporarily, but the official speaking to reporters on Monday did not directly address the fate of those programs.
Trump intends to reinstate his first-term “remain in Mexico” program, which forced non-Mexico asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for the outcome of the U.S. cases, the official said. Biden ended the program after taking office in 2021, saying migrants were stuck waiting in squalid conditions.
Trump plans to designate criminal cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, the official said. He also plans to prioritize immigration enforcement against criminal offenders and launch federal task forces to work with state and local law enforcement to execute arrests, the official said.
Mexico’s presidency, foreign ministry, and economy ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Trump’s plans. In a regular press conference on Monday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called for calm and insisted her government had to see the details of Trump’s actions before responding.
(with inputs from Reuters)
