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An “invasion”. This is how Donald Trump describes immigration across America’s southern border. “For American citizens, January 20, 2025, is Emancipation Day,” he said in his inaugural address. The idea that America is being invaded is the defining theme of 10 executive orders on immigration and border enforcement, which he signed on his first day in office. This is despite the fact that confrontations on the border are the lowest in four years. The orders are divided into three categories: rescinding Joe Biden’s policies and restoring Trump’s first-term plans; Bright things look difficult; and extreme measures that range from illegal to blatantly unconstitutional.
In the first set, Trump issued a sweeping order aimed at increasing detention, forcing states to take back their citizens, encouraging local police to help enforce immigration laws and sanctioning sanctuary cities, among other things. He has revived “Remain in Mexico,” a policy he introduced in 2019 that forced migrants to wait on the other side of the border while their asylum claims were adjudicated.
Also closed Customs and Border Protection The first is an app created by the Biden administration to help migrants make appointments to apply for asylum. Immigrants already in line found their meetings suddenly canceled after Trump took office. During his first term, the number of refugees transported to America declined sharply. This time he suspended all refugee resettlement for at least three months. Another order would increase scrutiny of immigrants and direct agencies to determine whether there are countries from which travel should be banned, perhaps a precursor to a ban like Trump’s on arrivals from Muslim-majority countries in 2017.
Some orders seem harsh but may not change much. The order calling for physical border barriers, detention and deportation is “just a call to enforce laws that already exist,” says Julia Gelatt of the Migration Policy Institute, a think tank. Additionally, Trump declared a national emergency on the southern border, allowing the Secretary of Defense to send troops to help secure the border with Mexico. George W. Bush and Barack Obama did something similar. Federal law limits soldiers’ roles in Internal Affairs to non-law enforcement activities, such as transportation and logistical support, rather than to actually apprehending immigrants. The national emergency also unlocks funds from the Department of Defense to fortify the border wall, a move the president made in 2019 as well.
This leaves out the more extreme orders. One aims to finish Citizenship by birthIt is stated in the Fourteenth Amendment. The new president launched a long process to designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and directed senior officials to prepare for the possibility that he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act, the only part of the Alien and Sedition Act, which was passed in 1798 when America was at war. With France, this has not been canceled or allowed to expire. It allows the president to detain and deport citizens of countries at war with America. However, America is not at war, and the drug cartels are not sovereign countries, even if they control some territory.
Here, Trump’s talk about the “invasion” becomes more than just rhetoric. Portraying the cartels as terrorists invading America is intended to legitimize his use of the law. Trump says that because America is being invaded, he can prevent anyone from crossing the border. The courts may not see it that way.■
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