By S.A. McCarthy
The Washington Stand
President Donald Trump has been in office less than a week and is already making good on his promise to secure the nation’s borders. Here’s how Trump is tackling America’s immigration crisis.
Military Mobilized
After declaring a national emergency at the southern border on Monday, mere hours after resuming office, Trump has deployed U.S. military troops to assist in stemming border crossings. According to a report from CNN, approximately 1,500 military troops are en route to the U.S.-Mexico border to support the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Over 2,200 active-duty soldiers are already on the ground, operating out of a command base in El Paso, Texas.
Acting Secretary of Defense Robert Salesses confirmed that military airplanes and helicopters are also being sent to the border to prevent illegal aliens from entering the country. Some aircraft will also be used to deport illegal immigrants. Salesses said that the Department of Defense “will provide military airlift to support DHS deportation flights of more than five thousand illegal aliens from the San Diego, California, and El Paso, Texas, sectors detained by Customs and Border Protection.” He added, “This is just the beginning.”
According to Fox News, the 1,500 troops sent to the border include 1,000 Army personnel and 500 Marines. They are expected to arrive at their posts in El Paso and San Diego by the end of the week.
In his executive order “Clarifying the Military’s Role in Protecting the Territorial Integrity of the United States,” Trump wrote, “As Chief Executive and as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, I have no more solemn responsibility than protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United States along our national borders.” He continued, “The Armed Forces of the United States have played a long and well-established role in securing our borders against threats of invasion, against unlawful forays by foreign nationals into the United States, and against other transnational criminal activities that violate our laws and threaten the peace, harmony, and tranquility of the Nation.”
“This comes off of his day one action … to direct the Department of Defense to make homeland security a core mission of the agency,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday. She continued, “This is something President Trump campaigned on, the American people have been waiting for such a time as this — for our Department of Defense to actually take homeland security seriously.” She added, “President Trump is sending a very strong message to people around this world — if you are thinking about breaking the laws of the United States of America, you will be returned home. You will be arrested. You will be prosecuted.”
Coast Guard on Guard
Trump has also directed the U.S. Coast Guard to secure America’s shorelines against potential illegal immigrant landings. Acting Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Kevin Lunday said in a Tuesday statement, “Per the president’s executive orders, I have directed my operational commanders to immediately surge assets — cutters, aircraft, boats, and deployable specialized forces — to increase Coast Guard presence and focus…” He added, “The U.S. Coast Guard is the world’s premiere maritime law enforcement agency, vital to protecting America’s maritime borders, territorial integrity and sovereignty.”
According to Lunday, the Coast Guard is increasing its presence in “the southeast U.S. border approaching Florida to deter and prevent a maritime mass migration from Haiti and/or Cuba,” as well as around Alaska, Hawaii, southern California, and the Gulf of Mexico. “Together, in coordination with our Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense teammates, we will detect, deter, and interdict illegal migration, drug smuggling, and other terrorist or hostile activity before it reaches our border,” Lunday stated.
Grounded — for Good?
In addition to increasing security measures at the border, Trump has also canceled flights for so-called asylum seekers. According to a U.S. State Department memo obtained by CNN, all flights shuttling refugees and asylum seekers into the U.S. have been canceled. “All previously scheduled travel of refugees to the United States is being canceled, and no new travel bookings will be made. RSCs should not request travel for any additional refugee cases at this time,” the memo stated. According to CNN, roughly 10,000 immigrants were slated to enter the U.S. via these flights.
All case processing within the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) has also been temporarily halted. “Additionally, all refugee case processing and pre-departure activities are also suspended. RSCs and IOM should not move refugees to transit centers in anticipation of travel and should halt all pre-departure activities for refugee cases. No new referrals should be made into the USRAP,” the memo states.
The cancellation of refugee flights follows an executive order issued by Trump temporarily shuttering the country’s refugee program. “Over the last 4 years, the United States has been inundated with record levels of migration, including through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program,” Trump wrote. He continued:
“The United States lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans, that protects their safety and security, and that ensures the appropriate assimilation of refugees. This order suspends the USRAP until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States.”
According to Trump’s order, USRAP will remain effectively defunct for a period of 90 days, after which the Homeland Security Secretary “shall submit a report to the President through the Homeland Security Advisor regarding whether resumption of entry of refugees into the United States under the USRAP would be in the interests of the United States.”
Deportations Galore
As The Washington Stand has previously reported, Trump’s promised mass deportations are already underway, with much more to come. In order to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to do its job, the Trump administration has made some significant rule changes. On Tuesday, DHS allowed ICE agents to implement “expedited removal” anywhere in the U.S. Previously, expedited removal, a process which allows agents to bypass immigration court systems, could only be used within 100 miles of the U.S. border and only if an illegal immigrant had been in the U.S. for less than two weeks. Now, ICE agents can rapidly expel illegal migrants anywhere in the country provided that the individual has been in the U.S. less than two years.
“[T]he full application of expedited removal authority will enable DHS to address more effectively and efficiently the large volume of aliens who are present in the United States unlawfully, without having been admitted or paroled into the United States, and ensure the prompt removal from the United States of those not entitled to enter, remain, or be provided relief or protection from removal,” the DHS notice reads. It continues, “The effect of this change will be to enhance national security and public safety — while reducing government costs — by facilitating prompt immigration determinations.”
The Trump administration has also dismantled restrictions put in place by former President Joe Biden barring ICE agents from detaining illegal immigrants at “sensitive locations.” Under Biden, ICE agents were prohibited from making arrests at locations such as schools, hospitals, churches, playgrounds, homeless shelters, and other places labeled “sensitive.” A DHS spokesman said, “This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens — including murders and rapists — who have illegally come into our country. Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest.” He added, “The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.”
Additionally, Trump is reinstating the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which requires immigrants claiming asylum or refugee status to await court appointments in Mexico, instead of being released into the U.S.
According to Axios, illegal immigrants are reacting to Trump’s deportation raids and ICE’s expanded authority with fear. Some are refusing to show up to work or take their children to school. As TWS previously reported, “border czar” and former acting ICE director Tom Homan has suggested that illegal migrants who fear deportation raids may decide to “self-deport” instead of being removed forcefully.
CNN statistician Harry Enten observed that mass deportations have seen increasing popularity in recent months — a significant change from when Trump first entered office in 2017. According to four separate polls, a majority (ranging from 55% to 64%) of Americans endorsed broadscale deportations. In 2015 and 2016, support for deportations ranged anywhere from 36% to 42%. “So what you’re seeing essentially here is a very clear indication that a majority of Americans, in fact, when they’re asked this blunt question … do in fact want to deport all immigrants who are here illegally,” Enten commented. He added, “I think the American people are going to give Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt to do what he wants to do, at least if you believe these blunt questions.”
Originally published at The Washington Stand!
