President-elect Donald Trump plans to issue 10 executive orders related to immigration on Monday, including declaring a national emergency at the border, an incoming White House official said.
The executive orders will follow Trump’s promises during the election campaign to issue mass deportations immediately after taking office.
Declaring a national emergency would allow the Department of Defense to deploy the military and National Guard to the border. Officials declined to elaborate on how many troops would be sent or the parameters of their actions, saying it would be up to the Defense Department to make those determinations.
The Trump administration also said it would end birthright citizenship, the right of children born in the United States to claim citizenship regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
Birthright citizenship has been understood to be a requirement under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States. USA”.
Changing the Constitution would require approval by two-thirds of Congress and ratification by three-quarters of the states, an extremely high bar. Democrats and some legal groups have vowed to challenge in court any attempt by Trump to eliminate birthright citizenship.
“Ending birthright citizenship is un-American and unconstitutional,” Sen. Rubén Gallego, D-Ariz., wrote in X, vowing to “fight this un-American executive order.”
The official said Trump intends to end the practice known as “catch and release.” Trump promised in his first term to end this practice, but migrants were still released after crossing the border due to limits on the detention space of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Trump administration also plans to reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which allowed Trump in his first term to prevent migrants of all nationalities from crossing into the United States from Mexico until they had an appointment to apply for asylum. The official did not detail whether that country had accepted any terms in this regard.
Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente told media at the Mexican president’s morning meeting that the plan is “a unilateral decision that they have made,” adding: “We do not share it. We have a different approach.”
He spoke before the Trump official announced the 10 planned executive orders on immigration, in response to earlier news reports that Trump would seek to reset the policy. It was unclear whether the Mexican government would block the Trump administration from carrying out the policy, which could pose an obstacle to the plan.
The official also said they would continue building the border wall and suspend refugee resettlement for at least four months.
The government also intends to attack drug cartels and what it called migrant gangs, specifically referring to MS-13 and the Tren de Aragua. According to the official, they intend to designate them as foreign terrorist organizations, which would make it illegal for anyone to provide aid or collaborate with the groups.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
