President-elect Donald Trump plans to launch a sweeping immigration crackdown on Monday that directs military troops to assist with U.S.-Mexico border security, cuts off asylum at the border, and challenges U.S. citizenship for children born to parents in the U.S. illegally, an incoming Trump official said.
Trump intends to declare illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border a national emergency to support border wall construction and send additional troops to the border, the incoming official said, requesting anonymity as a condition of a call with reporters. Trump will issue a sweeping proclamation that aims to block access to all asylum at the Mexico border, the official said.
Trump, a Republican, recaptured the White House after promising to intensify border security and deport record numbers of immigrants in the U.S. illegally. While Trump criticized Democrat Joe Biden for high levels of illegal immigration during his presidency, migrant arrests fell dramatically after Biden toughened his policies in June and as Mexico stepped up enforcement.
Republicans say large-scale deportations are necessary after millions of immigrants crossed illegally during Biden's presidency. There were roughly 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally or with a temporary status at the start of 2022, according to a U.S. government estimate, a figure that some analysts now place at 13-14 million.
Trump intends to take 10 executive orders and actions on Monday aimed at stepping up border security, the official said.
"The last four years have created an unconscionable risk to public safety, public health and the national security of the United States due to the Biden administration border policies," the official said, calling illegal immigration an "invasion."
Trump will take steps to curtail legal immigration by issuing an order intended to end birthright citizenship for U.S.-born children whose parents lack legal immigration status, the official said. He plans to suspend the U.S. refugee resettlement program for at least four months and will order a review of security to see if travelers from certain nations should be subject to a travel ban.
Kristi Noem, Trump's pick for Homeland Security secretary, said at a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing on Friday that she would end Biden-era legal entry programs that have allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants to enter the U.S. on a temporary basis, but the official did not directly address the fate of those programs.
Trump plans to designate criminal cartels as designated foreign terrorist organizations, the official said. He also plans to prioritize immigration enforcement against criminal offenders and launch federal task forces to work with state and local law enforcement to execute arrests, the official said.
Critics and immigrant advocates say mass deportations could disrupt businesses, split apart families and cost U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars. U.S. farm industry groups want Trump to spare their sector, which depends heavily on immigrants without legal status, but Trump's incoming administration has not publicly offered any guarantees.
Trump's actions could potentially face legal challenges. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other groups have been preparing for the possibility of litigation, a strategy that stymied many of Trump's hardline policies during his first term. California and other Democratic-led states that have policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement also could clash with Trump.
