President-elect Donald Trump is expected to take a slew of executive actions on his first day in the White House to ramp up immigration enforcement and roll back President Joe Biden’s flagship legal entry programs, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The executive actions would give federal immigration officers more latitude to arrest people with no criminal records, surge troops to the U.S.-Mexico border and restart construction of the border wall, the sources said.
Trump also is expected to end Biden’s humanitarian programs that allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants to enter legally in recent years and could encourage those with expired statuses to leave voluntarily, according to the sources who declined to be identified.
“All of these should be on the table,” said Mark Morgan, an immigration official in Trump’s first term who said he did not speak for the Trump transition team.
Trump’s early executive actions would kickstart his immigration agenda, which includes a promise to deport record numbers of immigrants in the U.S. illegally.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimated there were 11 million immigrants without legal status in 2022, a figure that may have increased. Some cities that received migrants including New York, Chicago and Denver struggled to house and aid them.
Trump, a Republican, defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in last week’s presidential election. He made claims that the Biden administration allowed high levels of illegal immigration a focus of his campaign.
Trump’s transition effort remains in its early stages and plans could change before his inauguration on Jan. 20. A Trump spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Migrant arrests reached a record during Biden’s presidency, straining U.S. border enforcement. But illegal crossings fell dramatically this year as Biden instituted new border restrictions and Mexico stepped up enforcement.
Trump aims to drive illegal crossings even lower and use a whole-of-government approach to arrest, detain and deport large numbers of people.
Trump announced on Sunday night that former hardline U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Tom Homan would serve as a White House “border czar” overseeing security and immigration enforcement.
Vice President-elect JD Vance on Monday appeared to confirm that Stephen Miller, architect of Trump’s restrictive first-term immigration agenda, would return as deputy chief of staff for policy, assuring the issue will remain central.
Trump’s aggressive agenda will likely encounter legal challenges from states governed by Democrats, the American Civil Liberties Union and pro-immigration advocates.
Day one takes shape
One of Trump’s Day One executive actions is expected to be an order on so-called interior enforcement, arresting and detaining immigrants in the U.S. illegally, the sources said.
Trump intends to scrap Biden administration guidance that prioritized people with serious criminal records for deportation and limited enforcement against non-criminals, they said.
The Trump order would call for deportations to prioritize people charged with felonies and people who have exhausted their legal avenues to remain, but would not restrict officers from picking up other potentially deportable immigrants.
More than 1 million immigrants in the U.S. have exhausted their legal options and been ordered deported, according to the pro-immigration American Immigration Council.
Homan told Fox News on Monday these people would be a priority. “A federal judge said, ‘You must go home,’ and they didn’t,” Homan said.
Certain groups – such as international students who support Palestinian militant group Hamas and have violated the terms of their student visas—could also be listed as a priority, two of the sources said.
ICE could use military planes in deportations and seek help from other government agencies to transport deportees, one source said. “All options are on the table,” the source said.
Another order would deal with border security, the two sources said. Trump intends to send National Guard troops to the border and declare illegal immigration a national emergency to unlock funds for border wall construction, the sources said.
Wall construction in Arizona—where Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs has opposed Republican enforcement efforts—could be a priority, two sources said.
Ending Biden programs
Trump plans to end Biden’s temporary humanitarian “parole” programs that have allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants to enter legally and access work permits, the sources said.
The programs include an initiative for certain migrants with U.S. sponsors and another that allows migrants in Mexico to use an app to schedule border appointments.
People in the U.S. with expired parole status who leave voluntarily could be allowed to apply for legal admission without penalties, the sources said.
Trump is also expected to talk with Mexico about reinstating his “Remain in Mexico” program which required non-Mexican asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their U.S. cases were decided.
—Ted Hesson, Reuters