President-elect Donald Trump plans to issue 10 executive orders related to immigration Monday, including declaring a national emergency at the border, an incoming White House official said.
The executive orders will follow Trump’s promises on the campaign trail to issue mass deportations immediately after taking office.
Declaring a national emergency would allow the Defense Department to deploy the military and the National Guard to the border. Officials declined to elaborate on how many troops would be sent or the parameters of their actions, saying it would be up to the Defense Department to make those determinations.
The Trump administration also said it would end birthright citizenship, the right of children born in the U.S. to claim citizenship regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
Birthright citizenship has been understood to be required under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
To change the Constitution would require approval from two-thirds of Congress and ratification by three-quarters of states, an extremely high bar. Democrats and some legal groups have vowed to challenge in court any Trump attempt to do away with birthright citizenship.
“Ending birthright citizenship is anti-America and unconstitutional,” Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., wrote on X, vowing to “fight this un-American executive order.”
The official said Trump intends to end the practice referred to as “catch and release.” Trump vowed in his first term to end the practice, but migrants were still released after crossing the border because of limits in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention space.
The Trump administration also plans to reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which allowed Trump in his first term to keep migrants of all nationalities from crossing into the United States from Mexico until they had an appointment for asylum. The official did not detail whether that country had agreed to any terms on it.
Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Juan Ramón de la Fuente told news media at the Mexican president’s morning meeting that the plan is “a unilateral decision that they have taken,” adding, “We do not share it. We have a different focus.”
He spoke before the Trump official announced the 10 planned executive orders on immigration, in response to previous news reports that Trump would look to reinstate the policy. It was unclear if the Mexican government would prevent the Trump administration from carrying out the policy, which could present a hurdle for the plan.
The official also said they would continue building the border wall and suspend refugee resettlement for at least four months.
The administration also intends to target drug cartels and what it called migrant gangs, referring specifically to MS-13 and Tren de Aragua. They intend to designate them as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, according to the official, which would make it illegal for anyone to provide aid or collaborate with the groups.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
