WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump was sworn into office for a second term on Monday, and wasted no time issuing executive orders that aim to fulfill his campaign promises regarding border security. Of 26 total first-day executive orders, he promised that 10 would pertain to the border. Nine were published on Monday, and officials told NPR on Monday that an additional directive regarding asylum was forthcoming.
An executive order is a special power of the president that has “the force of law,” per the American Bar Association, but doesn’t follow the typical “Schoolhouse Rock” steps through Congress. They do have staying power: executive orders must be published in the Federal Register, which informs the public about the daily business of the government, and catalogued by the National Archives for perpetuity.
That doesn’t mean that Trump’s executive orders will be carried out exactly as planned. While executive orders are a way of circumventing congressional approval, Congress can still make it very difficult for the president to carry out the order by strategically pulling funding or stalling other moving pieces that do require a vote.
Within hours of their release, many of these executive orders have also been challenged in court. At press time, 22 states have filed suit against the Trump administration regarding an executive order calling for the end of birthright citizenship (detailed below.)
A brief summary of the orders:
- “Declaring a national emergency at the southern border of the United States” –– This order authorizes the secretary of defense to order units of the United States military to the border and to “facilitate the operational needs of the secretary of Homeland Security,” who oversees Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). That includes providing space for detention centers, lending equipment and construction of barriers like the border wall.
- “Clarifying the military’s role in protecting the territorial integrity of the United States” — Trump doubles down on his first order (above), reinforcing his vision for a larger military presence along the southern border to control “unchecked unlawful mass migration” and the “unimpeded flow of opiates across our borders.”
- “Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program” — Starting January 27, Trump called for the suspension of admitting refugees into the country for at least 90 days, arguing that the country does not have the capacity to continue taking in and caring for refugees from foreign emergencies.
- “Protecting the meaning and value of American citizenship” — Perhaps the most legally contentious order of the bunch, this order would rescind “birthright citizenship,” which holds that anyone born in the United States is automatically a citizen. The order explains that the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution — which codified birthright citizenship — was originally written to enfranchise formerly enslaved people born in the U.S. and was never intended to apply to anyone born on U.S. soil. Numerous civil rights organizations disagree — the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit almost immediately upon the announcement from the White House.
- “Securing our borders” — This order piggybacks on the declaration of national emergency (1), reiterating the need for a “physical wall and other barriers” and for federal law enforcement and military to patrol the border. This is the order that explicitly shuttered CBP One, the app migrants who attempt to enter the United States through a port of entry are required to download in order to make appointments to begin the process of seeking asylum.
- “Restoring the death penalty and protecting public safety” — While this order applies more generally to all convicted of serious crimes in the United States, it includes a special clause pertaining to “a capital crime committed by an alien illegally present in this country” and for those convicted of killing law enforcement personnel.
- “Protecting the American people against invasion” — In addition to providing a framework for the government to monitor “an unprecedented flood of illegal immigration,” this order also calls upon the secretary of Homeland Security to “allocate all legal resources or establish contracts” to construct additional facilities to hold undocumented people apprehended by law enforcement. It also explicitly calls for a crackdown on “sanctuary jurisdictions, otherwise known as ‘sanctuary cities’” — a political buzzword referring to Democrat-led cities with friendlier policies toward hosting migrants and asylum seekers.
- “Guaranteeing the states protection against invasion” — Doubles down on (7), “suspending the physical entry of aliens involved in an invasion” until Trump determines that the “invasion” has ended.
- “Designating cartels and other organizations as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists” — This order is intended to combat cartel violence, which has “destabilized countries with significant importance for our national interests” and “flooded the United States with deadly drugs, violent criminals, and vicious gangs.” The Trump administration believes this order would make it easier for law enforcement to remove identified cartel members from the country and to beef up “vetting and screening” for all entering the country.