Donald Trump He won his second presidency largely because of a promise to be tough on immigration and to implement what he defined as “the largest deportation program in history“. In his first hours back in power, he has delivered even more: a iron fist
With more vigor and preparation than eight years ago, when his immigration agenda was already embedded in his political DNA, and with his advisor and now deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller As the mastermind of the attack, the Republican has started his second term with an avalanche of orders, proclamations and executive actions. These range from declaration of a national emergency on the southern border o to Army mobilization to “defend sovereignty and integrity“before a”invasion” until a daring attempt (immediately challenged in court) to remove the right of citizenship by birth in the countryrecognized in the Constitution.
The power of the actions of the first hours has been reinforced with administrative measures that began to be applied when it was still in its inauguration ceremony, with personnel decisions and with the first police operations of ICE agents (the immigration and border police agency) confirmed on CNN by the new ‘czar’ of the border, Tom Homan.
In this way, Trump has begun not only to fulfill his promise to deport undocumented immigrants, but also to build a wall in the United States to immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers that goes beyond the physical barrier with Mexico in which, on the other hand, construction restarts also under executive action. And lays the foundation for radically and lastingly alter the relationship with US immigration.
Citizenship and Army Law
The deepest turn is the attempt to withdraw the right to citizenship which in 1867 was sealed in the Constitution, in the Fourteenth Amendmentfor practically anyone born in the country (there are some exceptions such as the children of diplomats). Trump’s executive order establishes that, starting February 19, US documents will not be granted to babies born to couples where at least one of the parents (the father or the mother) is not a legal resident or citizen. It affects both children of people without documents and those who have temporary legal permits in the US such as work or study visas.
Several civil rights groups they filed a demand the same Monday night and this Tuesday the attorneys general from 18 states. And although on paper the judicial and legal precedent goes against Trump, since any constitutional change requires a supermajority vote in both chambers of Congress and ratification by three-quarters of the states, an intense battle in the courts is anticipated.
Other actions carried out by Trump, such as the mobilization of the Army to “seal the border” or the assignment to the armed forces of a role in immigration policingsince this step clashes with the Posse Comitatus law, which since the end of the 19th century prohibits these functions on national soil. and your designation of drug trafficking cartels and other criminal groups as terrorist organizationss opens possibilities of conflict with other countries.
Immediate effect
The effects of Trump’s certain actions, however, are immediate and profound. Included in the torrent of measures is a suspensionsupposedly temporary but for now indefinite, of the refugee settlement program. And that same Monday at noon, the CPB One application, which the Joe Biden Administration had launched to organize asylum requests at legal entry points, stopped working. Tens of thousands of people who had already made their appointments for these applications and were waiting in Mexico saw them cancelled.
Trump also launches the reinstatement of the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policywhich forces asylum seekers to wait there for a court date, and formally rescinds ‘catch and release’ policywhich allowed immigrants detained at the border to wait in the US while their asylum cases were resolved. His Department of Justice also removed the four highest officials of the agency in charge of crimes from their positions. immigration courtsa funnel where in October there were 3.5 million cases left to be resolved.
The deportation operations are supposedly going to focus as a priority on immigrants with criminal records, But any undocumented person can fall into the network of police operations, as Homan admitted on CNN. And Fox News revealed this Tuesday that among policies implemented by the Joe Biden Administration that Trump has canceled there is the one that prohibited raids on places such as schools, hospitals, churches, social service establishments or “places where children congregate”one of the decisions that has triggered fear in immigrant communities. Trump has also dismantled the task force created by Biden to seek the reunification of families who were separated at the border.
