President Donald Trump’s new term at the White House has started with his same old agenda: Efforts to curb immigration and crackdown on migrants and their families.
As he returned to power on January 20, Trump signed a series of executive orders to implement his anti-immigration agenda.
“We have a government that has given unlimited funding to the defense of foreign borders but refuses to defend American borders or, more importantly, its own people,” Trump said during his inauguration speech.
He vowed to deport millions of people and described migration at the southern border as a “disastrous invasion”.
After he arrived at the White House following inauguration festivities, Trump put his perception of presidential powers to work, announcing decrees that not only target undocumented immigrants, but aim to overhaul the entire immigration system.
Below are four immigration-related directives that will have a major impact on the US:
Revoking birthright citizenship
The most consequential Trump order was to end automatic birthright citizenship for people born in the United States.
It stipulated that a newborn does not get automatic citizenship “when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth”.
It also bars citizenship to children born to parents in the US on non-permanent visas, including students and tourists.
The order relied on a novel interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which was ratified at the end of the civil war to ensure that former slaves and their children get full citizenship rights.
Rights groups were quick to condemn the measure, stressing that it violates the US Constitution.
“Denying citizenship to U.S.-born children is not only unconstitutional — it’s also a reckless and ruthless repudiation of American values,” Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a statement.
“Birthright citizenship is part of what makes the United States the strong and dynamic nation that it is.”
Advocates were quick to sue Trump over the policy.
This week, a federal judge suspended Trump’s policy. “I’ve been on the bench for over four decades. I can’t remember another case where the question presented was as clear as this one is,” Judge John Coughenour told a Justice Department attorney.
Coughenour called Trump’s order “a blatantly unconstitutional order.”
But the fight is not over. The Trump administration is likely to appeal the case and take it all the way to the conservative-dominated Supreme Court, which has shown willingness to overturn precedent to advance right-wing causes.
Setting the stage for travel ban
In another sweeping order, Trump put preparations in place to impose a ban on citizens of some countries from entering the US.
Advocates have expressed concern that the decree may lead to another travel ban on Muslim majority countries – akin to the one he imposed during his first term, which included Yemen.
The decree says US officials must produce a report listing “countries throughout the world for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries”.
The executive order has also raised fear that it may be used to target international students and professors who show support for Palestinian rights.
While it does not mention Israel explicitly, the directive uses language that right-wing politicians and commentators have used to call for the expulsion of Palestinian rights advocates.
“The United States must ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security,” it reads.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) said the order “lays the groundwork for another discriminatory policy that targets individuals from predominantly Muslim and Arab countries — essentially replicating the notorious 2017 Muslim Ban”.
“The government now has wider latitude to use ideological exclusion to deny visa requests and remove individuals who are already legally in the United States,” ADC added.
The order requires US agencies to ensure “sufficient safeguards are in place to prevent any refugee or stateless individual from being admitted to the United States without undergoing stringent identification verification beyond that required of any other alien.”
The provision about “stateless” people is widely thought to target Palestinians.
Halting refugee admission
Trump suspended the entry of refugees into the US and halted the program altogether.
“The United States lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans, that protects their safety and security, and that ensures the appropriate assimilation of refugees,” the decree reads.
The directive cancelled the travel of refugees already vetted and approved and ready to travel to the US.
The refugee program rigorously vet applicants in coordination with international agencies to allow displaced and persecuted people to move to the US.
Rights groups decried the move, stressing that America has always been a safe haven for people seeking refuge and safety.
David Miliband, president of the International Rescue Committee, called the move a “backward step for refugees and for America”.
“The refugee resettlement program is a proven, orderly, cost-effective way of offering life-saving protection to some of the most vulnerable people in the world,” Miliband said in a statement.
“This country has been a leader in refugee resettlement. The beneficiaries are not just those who come here; it is also the communities to which they contribute.”
Sending the military to border
Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border to send the military to act as enforcement agents.
“America’s sovereignty is under attack,” the directive said.
“Our southern border is overrun by cartels, criminal gangs, known terrorists, human traffickers, smugglers, unvetted military-age males from foreign adversaries, and illicit narcotics that harm Americans, including America.”
While Trump often links undocumented immigrants to crime, various studies have shown that undocumented migrants are far less likely to be arrested for breaking the law than US-born citizens.
The order directed the Pentagon to provide units and detention facilities to help in “obtaining complete operational control of the southern border of the United States”.