President Trump has issued executive orders that provide for the building of a wall on the U.S./Mexico border; will cut off federal aid from “sanctuary cities”; and that will beef up border control enforcement.
He has also prepared an executive order that will temporarily halt the admittance of immigrants from countries with a history of terrorism (specifically, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia). The current refugee program is being frozen until “extreme vetting” procedures can be put into place. An exception is being made for immigrants facing religious persecution for belonging to a minority religion.
Details after the jump.
The wall will begin construction “in a matter of months.” It will be built with U.S. funds, but Trump said that Mexico will reimburse us. Trump is meeting next week with the president of Mexico to discuss how he is going to get that country to pay for it. UPDATE: After President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico announced that his country would NOT pay for the wall, that meeting has been cancelled. UPDATE: Trump spokesmen say that the wall will be funded by a 20% tax on Mexican goods coming into the U.S.
This is what Trump said he would do, and this was one of his major campaign issues.
Is this discriminatory? heartless? common sense? restoring “the rule of law” (as Trump calls it)?
From David Nakamura, Trump signs directive to start border wall with Mexico, ramp up immigration enforcement – The Washington Post:
President Trump signed a pair of executive actions Wednesday to begin ramping up immigration enforcement, including a new border wall with Mexico, vowing that construction on his chief campaign pledge would begin in months.
In an appearance at the Department of Homeland Security, Trump kicked off the rollout of a series of directives aimed at clamping down on the estimated 11 million immigrants living illegally in the United States. Aides said more directives could come later this week, including new restrictions on refugees and immigrants from Muslim-majority countries.
The presidential directives signed Wednesday aim to create more detention centers, add more federal border control agents and withhold federal funds to cities that do not comply with federal immigration laws. One order calls for the “immediate construction of a physical wall.”
“We are going to restore the rule of law in the United States,” Trump said, addressing DHS employees after signing the directives. “Beginning today the United States gets control of its borders.”
From Abigail Hauslohner and Karen DeYoung, Draft executive order would begin ‘extreme vetting’ of immigrants and visitors to the U.S., Washington Post:
The Trump administration plans to start vetting would-be immigrants and visitors to the United States based partly on their opinions and ideology, and will immediately cease the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the United States, according to a draft executive order leaked Wednesday to civil rights advocates and obtained by The Washington Post.
The order, if enacted, would signal the beginning of the “extreme vetting” that President Trump promised on the campaign trail, as well as partial implementation of the “Muslim ban,” according to civil rights advocates.
The order calls for an immediate 30-day halt to all immigrant and nonimmigrant entry of travelers from certain countries whose citizens “would be detrimental to the interests of the United States.” Once signed, it would allow even those with visas to be turned away at U.S. airports and other entry points.
The countries — designated under several provisions of law that have already singled them out for terrorism links — include Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia. While all are Muslim-majority countries, the list — and the ban — do not include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and numerous other Muslim-majority countries.
Additionally, all refugee admission and resettlement would be halted for 120 days — and until further notice, from Syria — while reviews of vetting procedures are conducted. Once restarted, annual refugee admissions from all countries would be cut from the currently authorized level of 100,000 to 50,000. . . .
Waivers to the ban on refugees and overall priority for admission would be given to those claiming religious persecution, “provided that the religion of the individual is a minority religion in the individual’s country of nationality.”
Photo: “Immigrant Reform leaders arrested.” By Arasmus Photo [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
