Trump tees up aggressive immigration push in first hours of administrationDonald Trump’s team is finalizing an aggressive slate of immigration executive orders that are expected to be released only hours after the president-elect is sworn in, kicking off an immigration crackdown that will have implications for people nationwide, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.
The package of actions amounts to a dramatic shift in immigration policy that will affect immigrants already residing in the United States and migrants seeking asylum at the US-Mexico border.
The planning includes US Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps in major metropolitan areas, sending more Pentagon resources to the US southern border, placing additional restrictions on who is eligible to enter the US, along with rolling back Biden-era policies.
“You’ll see removal planes, reports of arrests occurring, ICE action in sanctuary jurisdictions,” one source told CNN, referring to the incoming administration’s deportation plans. “As you get into 30 days and first 100 days, that’s where you’ll see a consistent drumbeat.”
Sources maintain that the incoming administration will, at least initially, be focused on undocumented immigrants with criminal backgrounds who are eligible for removal in major metropolitan areas, like Washington, DC, Denver, and Chicago. But others who are encountered over the course of those operations could also be taken into custody, according to a source.
The main players on Trump’s key agenda item include South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, whose confirmation hearing is slated for Friday, as homeland security secretary, Tom Homan as border czar and Stephen Miller, incoming deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser.
“You cannot be a safe or secure country until the border is protected and defended,” Miller said on Fox Thursday, stating that all relevant federal agencies “will be given the assignment and the mission to interdict all contraband, to use all financial resources to strangle the cartels, and to end all illegal immigration into this country as a top national security.”
Trump will be inheriting a relatively quiet US southern border, but his team is teeing up actions to double down on border security and roll out policies that would overhaul the US immigration system.
The authorities that Trump is expected to invoke upon taking office are familiar and a call back to his first term, while other unprecedented actions remain under consideration. Trump’s team, for example, continues to assess multiple options to end birthright citizenship, and is reviewing the applicability of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
Early actions include a national emergency declaration to surge additional Pentagon resources to the US southern border, issuing a proclamation to suspend the entry of certain people at the US southern border and putting in place a travel ban. Discussions are ongoing on who the travel ban will include, according to a source, who said it’s expected to emulate the prior iteration and be rooted in vetting concerns.
The Trump team also plans to do away with a humanitarian parole program designed to provide a legal pathway to the US for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans – potentially placing hundreds of thousands of recent migrant arrivals who are currently able to temporarily work and live in the US in limbo.
“President Trump was given a mandate by the American people to stop the invasion of illegal immigrants, secure the border, and deport dangerous criminals and terrorists that make our communities less safe. He will deliver,” said Karoline Leavitt, Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman, in a statement. ...............
https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/17/politics/trump-tees-up-aggressive-immigration-push/index.html?iid=cnn_buildContentRecirc_end_recirc
