A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Donald Trump is prepared to sign 10 immigration-related executive orders once he's sworn in as president later today. That's what incoming White House officials told reporters. NPR's immigration policy reporter Ximena Bustillo was on the call. So Ximena, break it down. What did Trump officials announce today?
XIMENA BUSTILLO, BYLINE: This morning, incoming White House officials previewed 10 executive orders. They ranged from declaring a national emergency at the southern border to designating criminal cartels as terrorists. He also plans to bring back items from his first term. He vowed to reinstitute Remain in Mexico. This was a policy from his first term that would require some asylum seekers at the southern border to wait in Mexico for their asylum hearings in U.S. Immigration Court and resume construction of the border wall. Some of his biggest and boldest promises are also on the list. This includes making moves to end birthright citizenship and deploying the military and National Guard to the southern border, as well.
The official also said that U.S. Would be suspending refugee resettlement for at least four months. Officials said that they're planning to end asylum entirely and close the border to those without legal status via proclamation, which, quote, "creates an immediate removal process without the possibility of asylum."
MARTÍNEZ: So, Ximena, this is all pretty much what we've been hearing for the last few months?
BUSTILLO: Correct. We expected a lot of this. Last night during a rally in Washington, D.C., Trump said that he planned to sign these executive orders quickly and launch, quote, "the most aggressive, sweeping effort to restore the nation's borders that the world has ever seen." That's what he said. A lot of these have been campaign promises, as well. Immigration, as we know, was a huge issue during the election. Every rally, Trump dedicated time to the issue and even vowed that these would be his Day 1 executive orders.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. So that's some of what we know. What do we not know?
BUSTILLO: There's still much that remains to be seen about how much of these efforts will literally and physically work. Some of them, such as Remain in Mexico, will, you know, bring back policy that was previously on the books. But other actions, such as moving to revoke birthright citizenship are brand new and come with plenty of legal complexities. You know, taking that as the example, birthright citizenship, which is enshrined in the 14th Amendment, would need a constitutional amendment. That is going to be really difficult in this political climate. That requires three-fourths of states to be approved. Several of these actions will also be subject to legal challenges from states or immigrants' rights organizations or need Congress to mobilize new funding.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. Now, how popular are some of these proposed measures?
BUSTILLO: Well, Trump campaigned on this, so people knew what he was planning to do. Still, the latest NPR/PBS Marist poll finds that Americans are evenly split on whether to mass deport people in the United States who are here without legal status, though divisions do fall along party lines.
MARTÍNEZ: OK, last thing, Ximena, so how quickly will these, or any of these go into effect?
BUSTILLO: They may take weeks or months to implement. Several actions, again, will likely be subject to legal challenges, or need that funding from Congress that Trump currently does not have. In fact, even quickly scaling up operations might be difficult for the new administration. A previous NPR investigation last year found that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency responsible for removals, struggled to scale up to Trump's immediate demands during his first term, which included attempts to increase deportations. And Congress must provide the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies with a lot of - more funding to execute the policies. In their final budget, the Biden administration asked for $19 billion to fund additional personnel facilities, you know, more to build up other enforcement resources along the southwest border.
Lawmakers are expected to take up border security funding as a part of a bigger budget-related measure, but that's not till later this year.
MARTÍNEZ: Alright, that was a lot. Thank you. That's NPR's Ximena Bustillo.
BUSTILLO: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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