Trump’s First Days: Executive Orders Take a Hard Line on Unauthorised Immigration
Image Courtesy of Senna Omar via Highlander News
Since his first presidential campaign leading up to the 2016 election, Donald Trump has made immigration at the southern border of the United States an essential pillar of his suggested policy. Calling Mexican migrants looking to cross the border “rapists” and claiming that they bring drugs and crime into the US, he has stirred up support from many reaches of the nation, with a poll from the Statista Research Department finding immigration to be 13% of voters’ top issue, second overall only to the economy.
Upon entering office on January 21st, President Trump signed a flurry of Executive Orders, with many focused on reducing immigration, mainly by means of force. He has barred asylum for new migrants coming to the border, continued on a previous order forcing those currently seeking asylum to remain in Mexico while their cases are reviewed, and signed an order attempting to end birthright citizenship. He has also used Executive Orders to enable broader exertions of presidential power by declaring unauthorized immigration a national emergency, which grants him the power to send members of the military and National Guard to the border.
While President Trump has issued each of these orders, his ability to implement them varies. His order ending birthright citizenship is likely to have little efficacy. Fundamentally granting citizenship to all those “born or naturalized in the United States,” the Fourteenth Amendment was added to the United States Constitution in 1868 as a part of reconstructive efforts after the Civil War. Its revision would require two-thirds of both chambers of Congress to vote to change it as well as three-fourths of the states. As this is highly unlikely, it is expected that courts will block the order. Judge John Coughenor of Seattle has already blocked it using a restraining order against it. Twenty-two states have also sued in an effort to block this order, along with cities San Francisco and Washington D.C. The full complaint, filed in Federal District Court in Massachusetts, can be found here.
In spite of the challenges the order will surely face, President Trump’s willingness to suggest the order itself is a shock to what has been an essential part of American freedom and democracy, underlining his extreme stance on immigration.
Other immigration orders signed by President Trump are less likely to face significant legal obstacles, and he has already started to implement some of them. The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) has arrested at least 2,681 people as of January 27th with the highest number of arrests on Sunday, January 26th at 956. On the day after his inauguration, ICE raids started in Chicago and New York City, and it has been reported that President Trump intends his administration to target three cities per week, focusing on undocumented immigrants with criminal records. However, many migrants without a record get caught in the crossfire: roughly half of the 1,200 migrants arrested on Sunday, January 26th had no criminal record whatsoever.
Another pivotal change President Trump has made to the United States’ immigration policy is reimplementing expedited removal of immigrants who are unable to prove over two years of continuous residence in the country. President Trump’s continuation of this 2019 policy, which was halted by the Biden administration, means that United States ICE officials will now have the right to arrest anyone suspected of entering the country without authorization, with those arrested being subject to expedited removal without a court hearing.
The ability of officials to deport immigrants without a court hearing marks a sharp departure from the typical protocol of the United States’ justice system, wherein “the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial” under the Sixth Amendment. However, President Trump is able to enforce this expedited removal as deportations are classed as civil cases, to which the Sixth Amendment does not apply.
Despite President Trump’s insistent claims that “millions” of people are crossing the US border without authorization, including terrorists and convicted murderers, the people of the United States feel differently. Many Americans share a modest view on undocumented immigration, with 64% believing those who crossed the border without authorization should have a pathway to staying in the country legally as of November 2024. However, this statistic has fallen since including 75% of the population in 2020.
The United States, is, and always has been, a country of immigrants: as of 2023, the US population of those born in another country reached 47.8 million, or 14.3%. This still falls below the record high of 14.8% in 1890. President Trump claims he wants to “Make America Great Again,” and "[Protect] the American People Against Invasion." The United States’ population has a constant history of diversity, its most common shared trait being the hope, ambition, and passion for a better life. With an immigration rate of more than 10% over the majority of the past 175 years, it is unclear what exactly is so American about President Trump’s policy towards immigration.
In light of these Executive Orders and the changes they will bring, Americans will do well to remember the words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Though many Americans’ ancestors’ first glimpse of the country was this shining symbol of freedom, welcoming them as they made their way towards Ellis Island, she now appears to be tarnished with apathy.