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'We will build the wall!' Trump expected to sign executive orders restricting immigration Donald Trump to order Mexico wall in national security crackdown
(about 2 hours later)
Donald Trump will sign several executive orders restricting immigration and taking steps on his proposed wall on the Mexican border on Wednesday at the Department of Homeland Security, according to two administration officials and several congressional aides briefed on the matter. Donald Trump is due to sign off a volley of executive orders on national security, including measures to start the construction of a wall on the Mexican border and the imposition of a ban on refugees from the Middle East.
The president alluded to his expected actions on Twitter on Tuesday night, writing: “Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!” The new US president is expected to sign orders setting out federal funding for the wall during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday, two administration officials told the Associated Press.
Trump’s orders were expected to involve restricting access to the United States for refugees and some visa holders from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, said the aides and experts, who asked not to be identified. He will also impose a temporary ban on most refugees and suspend visas for citizens of Syria and six other Middle Eastern and African countries, congressional aides and immigration experts briefed on the measures told Reuters.
The restrictions on refugees are likely to include a multi-month ban on admissions from all countries until the state and homeland security departments can make the vetting process more rigorous. The US already has one of the most rigorous vetting processes in the world, and it can take up to two years of interviews and background checks for a person to gain admittance. According to a report in the New York Times, Trump is also considering measures that are even more contentious, including reviewing whether to resume the once-secret “black site” detention programme, designating the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation, and keeping open the Guantánamo Bay detention centre.
There is also likely to be an exception in the refugee stoppage for those fleeing religious persecution if their religion is a minority in their country, a person briefed on the proposal said. That exception could cover Christians fleeing Muslim-majority nations. Trump appeared to preview the measures in a characteristic tweet late on Tuesday that said: “Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!”
While the specific of Trump’s orders were unclear, two administration officials said Wednesday’s actions would focus in part on the president’s plans to construct a wall along the southern border with Mexico. Trump has insisted that Mexico will pay for the way,, which the Mexican government has repeatedly rejected. Trump has used executive orders as a very public show of swiftly undoing the work of the Obama administration and beginning to honour pledges made on the campaign trail. On Tuesday he angered Native Americans and climate change activists by signing executive orders to allow construction of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines. On Monday he reinstated the “global gag rule”, which bans funding for groups that offer abortions or abortion advocacy, even if they use their own funds to do so.
Earlier this month, Trump said the building project would initially be paid for by taxpayers, with a congressionally approved spending bill, and Mexico will eventually reimburse the US, though he has not specified how he would guarantee payments. Trump will meet with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto at the White House next week. His latest orders are expected to involve restricting access to the US for refugees and some visa holders from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, said the aides and experts. By doing so, he looks likely to ignore Bana al-Abed, the seven-year-old girl whose tweets from Aleppo drew attention to the city’s devastation, who has urged Trump to “do something for the children of Syria” in an open letter.
In claiming authority to build a wall, Trump may rely on a 2006 law that authorized several hundred miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile frontier. That bill led to the construction of about 700 miles of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians. The Secure Fence Act was signed by George W Bush, and the last remnants were completed after Barack Obama took office in 2009. James Carafano, who led the Trump’s homeland security transition team, insisted that the planned visa restrictions were “prudent”.
The Trump administration also must adhere to a decades-old border treaty with Mexico that limits where and how structures can be built along the border. The 1970 treaty requires that structures cannot disrupt the flow of the rivers, which define the US-Mexican border along Texas and 24 miles in Arizona, according to The International Boundary and Water Commission, a joint US-Mexican agency that administers the treaty. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “We have seen legitimate cases of transnational terrorism of people travelling from one country to another to do terrorist acts. We have actually seen a number of them in western Europe, so a country putting in place prudent measures to interdict terrorist travel by making sure you are screening refugees and visa applicants appropriately is not in any way imprudent. And dealing with that while you’re also dealing with trying to prevent homegrown terrorist attacks at the same time to me just sounds like reasonable responsible national security.
If Trump’s actions would result in those caught being immediately jailed, the administration would have to grapple with how to pay for jail space to detain everyone and what to do with children caught crossing the border with their parents. “It doesn’t seem like an effort to persecute any religion or any particular people.”
Stephen Legomsky, a former chief counsel at US Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Obama administration, said the president has the authority to limit refugee admissions and the issuance of visas to specific countries if it is determined to be in the public’s interest. Carafano conceded that the wall on the Mexico border would initially have to be paid for by the US government. “If the federal government buys a tank the only way it can do that is with federal dollar,” he said.
“From a legal standpoint, it would be exactly within his legal rights,” said Legomsky, who now is a professor at Washington University School of Law in St Louis. “But from a policy standpoint it would be a terrible idea because there is such an urgent humanitarian need right now for refugees.” The restrictions on refugees are likely to include bans for several months on admissions from all countries until the state and homeland security departments can make the vetting process more rigorous. The US already has one of the most rigorous vetting processes in the world, and it can take up to two years of interviews and background checks for a person to gain admittance.
On the campaign trail, Trump initially proposed a “complete and total” ban on Muslims entering the United States, which he said would protect Americans from jihadist attacks. Both Trump and his nominee for attorney general, Senator Jeff Sessions, have since said they would focus the restrictions on countries whose migrants could pose a threat rather than placing a ban on people who follow a specific religion. There is also likely to be an exception for those fleeing religious persecution if their religion is a minority in their country, a person briefed on the proposal told Reuters. That exception could cover Christians fleeing Muslim-majority nations.
Detractors could launch legal challenges to the moves if all the countries subject to the ban are Muslim-majority nations, said immigration expert Hiroshi Motomura, of the UCLA School of Law. Legal arguments could claim the executive orders discriminate against a particular religion, which would be unconstitutional, he said. Trump initially proposed a “complete and total” ban on Muslims entering the US, but has since said he would instead focus on restrictions on countries whose migrants could pose a threat.
Detractors could launch legal challenges to the moves if all the countries subject to the ban are Muslim-majority nations, said Hiroshi Motomura, of the UCLA School of Law. Legal arguments could claim the executive orders discriminate against a particular religion, which would be unconstitutional, he said.
“His comments during the campaign and a number of people on his team focused very much on religion as the target,” Motomura said.“His comments during the campaign and a number of people on his team focused very much on religion as the target,” Motomura said.
To block entry from the designated countries, Trump is likely to instruct the state department to stop issuing visas to people from those nations, according to sources familiar with the visa process. He could also instruct Customs and Border Protection to stop any current visa holders from those countries from entering the United States. During the campaign, Trump also floated the idea of a religious registry, a plan that would likely face challenges in the courts. To block entry from the designated countries, Trump is likely to instruct the state department to stop issuing visas to people from those nations, according to sources familiar with the visa process. He could also instruct Customs and Border Protection to stop any current visa holders from those countries from entering the US. During the campaign, Trump also floated the idea of a religious registry, a plan that would be likely to face challenges in the courts.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Tuesday that the state and homeland security departments would work on the vetting process once Trump’s nominee to head the state department, Rex Tillerson, is confirmed. The White House spokesman, Sean Spicer, said on Tuesday that the state and homeland security departments would work on the vetting process once Trump’s nominee to head the state department, Rex Tillerson, is confirmed.
Other measures may include directing all agencies to finish work on a biometric identification system for non-citizens entering and exiting the United States and a crackdown on immigrants fraudulently receiving government benefits, according to the congressional aides and immigration experts. Other measures may include directing all agencies to finish work on a biometric identification system for non-citizens entering and exiting the US and a crackdown on immigrants fraudulently receiving government benefits, according to the congressional aides and immigration experts.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report