President Donald Trump was all set on Wednesday to push ahead with his signature campaign issue of building a wall along the Mexican border and order a set of measures to tighten immigration including a possible temporary ban on entry of people from a band of nations that are deemed to be a terror risk for the United States.
In what was only Day 5 since his inauguration last Friday, Trump was slated to visit the Department of Homeland Security later on Wednesday to unveil his plan for a crackdown on the immigration front to let America and the world know that he is not going to be an “all talk, no action” president.
“Big day planned on NATIONAl SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!” Trump tweeted on Tuesday evening, setting off a flurry of activity.
Citing a draft prepared by his top aides and currently under circulation within the administration, US media outlets reported that Trump’s plan also includes slashing the number of refugees who can settle in the United States.
“This would pave the way for the administration to slash the number of displaced people who can be resettled on American soil, and would effectively bar the entry of people from Muslim countries — including Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and Syria — at least for some time,” The New York Times reported, pointing out that the policy under consideration would halt admissions from Syria and suspend it from other majority-Muslim nations until the administration can study how to properly vet them.
Besides adding 5,000 border agents, Trump was also slated to announce plans for some “sanctuary cities” within the US that were reportedly not dealing suitably with illegal immigrants and their crime situation.
“If Chicago doesn’t fix the horrible ‘carnage’ going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!,” Trump threatened in yet another tweet. The Democrats-run Chicago has been in Trump’s cross-hairs for the better part of his presidential campaign.
“The proposed orders could lead to sweeping and controversial changes in the way the United States conducts itself at home and around the globe in the name of security, potentially leading to the reinstatement of policies that have been repudiated by much of the world,” The Times commented.
The projected moves are being viewed as Trump’s first effort to deliver on one of his campaign themes that illegal immigration is out of control and is threatening the country’s safety and security.
Trump appeared to be undecided as yet on a sensitive programme instituted by predecessor Barack Obama. Called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, this 2012 programme has given temporary protection from deportation to hundreds of thousands of people who arrived in the United States as children. During his campaign, Trump had insisted that he would not spare this programme as well.
But in recent days, the White House has advanced the line that the Trump administration’s first priority will be the deportation of those illegal immigrants who have a history of criminal activity.
Among the executive orders under consideration, there is one meant for the Secretary of State to determine whether to designate the Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization. Such a designation has been sought by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
On his pet Mexican wall project, Trump has frequently held forth on his campaign trail that the wall would be built and Mexico would pay for it.