LEILA FADEL, HOST:
We begin, though, with immigration, which is at the center of Trump's first moves as president, and it was a key part of his campaign message that returned him to office.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: As commander in chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions, and that is exactly what I am going to do. We will do it at a level that nobody's ever seen before.
A MARTÍNEZ, BYLINE: He signed a handful of actions tied to immigration yesterday evening and rescinding other Biden administration policies on asylum and the border. Some, though, push the legal bounds of the law and the Constitution.
FADEL: NPR's immigration policy reporter, Ximena Bustillo, has been covering all of this and joins me now. Hi, Ximena.
XIMENA BUSTILLO, BYLINE: Good morning.
FADEL: Good morning. So Trump has made some very specific promises around immigration. What actions did he take yesterday?
BUSTILLO: Trump signed executive actions aimed at increasing border security and reducing pathways for legal migration. Some included his boldest promises, like reinterpreting the 14th Amendment, to mean that those born in the U.S. do not get automatic citizenship, as has been the most common interpretation. Trump also brought back some policies from his first term - resuming border wall construction and pausing refugee resettlement.
A few other things happened yesterday as well. He shut down the CPB One app. This was something President Joe Biden created, which allowed migrants to schedule appointments at ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border. This created immediate impact at the Southern border. People who had waited months to be able to schedule an appointment suddenly lost that chance.
FADEL: Is everything he's signing legal and constitutional? I'm thinking of birthright citizenship. I mean, can he just end it? The 14th Amendment of the Constitution says all persons born in the United States are citizens.
BUSTILLO: This is something that he has long promised to do, though this is already being challenged in courts. Last night, a coalition of civil rights and civil liberty groups filed a lawsuit in New Hampshire saying Trump's decision was unconstitutional and goes against congressional intent and long-standing Supreme Court precedent. And others are looking into this, too, and there's a lot of unknowns generally about the ability to implement many of these actions. For example, Trump says he wants to send the military and National Guard to the border, but there's no clarity on who would go, how many or to do what.
FADEL: I mean, and just a reminder - I mean, Trump's been in power for not even a full day yet. That starts today. But he does have some of his cabinet in place, like Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Does he have his immigration team assembled?
BUSTILLO: Trump selected South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to lead Homeland Security, but she has not been confirmed yet by the Senate. There are also key posts at the Defense Department that may need to be in place to deploy resources to the Southern border. And agencies like DHS do need congressional funding to scale up their operations. And while there is interest in having border security be a part of the next budget-related measure, that's still several weeks away, if not months.
FADEL: And speaking of Congress, I mean, lawmakers did actually take action on immigration last night. What did they do?
BUSTILLO: Twelve Democrats joined Republicans to pass the Laken Riley Act. This is a bill that would lower the bar for who the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents can detain and deport based on their crimes, such as theft or assault against law enforcement. The bill now goes back to the House, which is expected to pass it, and this could reach Trump's desk as the first legislation that he signs in his second term. But it might be pretty hard to implement. I got an internal memo from Immigration and Customs Enforcement that said that they'd need $26 billion in just the first year to comply with the order...
FADEL: Oh, wow.
BUSTILLO: ...To house those they detain and to hire more people to process them.
FADEL: NPR's Ximena Bustillo. Thank you, Ximena.
BUSTILLO: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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