Q&A – Donald Trump’s Current Border & Illegal Immigration Plan
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
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Today’s Entry: Today’s question came from a caller who said he was an independent and wanted to know what Donald Trump’s border plan is.
Bottom Line: On the one hand there might not be a single major policy position of a major party candidate that’s clearer or more widely understood than former President Donald Trump’s border policy/plan. After all it was the central theme of his successful 2016 presidential campaign and focus until the very end of his presidency. In fact, here’s a bit of presidential trivia for you, Donald Trump’s last official trip as President of the United States was to visit the southern border to view the construction of the southern border wall which took place during his presidency. And that takes us to addressing today’s question. Central to understanding what Trump’s current border policy is, is understanding what it was. The building of the southern border wall was and is synonymous with Donald Trump so let’s start there. Here’s a look at what was accomplished with the building of a southern border wall during his administration.
- 458 miles of total constructed border wall
- 372 miles replaced and/or expanded previously existing border barriers
- 88 miles was newly expanded southern border protection
- 54% of our Southern border with Mexico containing some form of barrier – up from 34% pre-Trump
While the construction of 458 miles of southern border wall is no small feat within four years, the number would have been significantly higher had it not been for a series of legal challenges against the construction/expansion of the wall, ultimately won by the Trump administration. In addition to the construction of the southern border wall President Trump’s border policy included the implementation of the “Remain in Mexico” policy. This policy ended the abuse of the US asylum system by mandating that those seeking to enter the U.S. would have to wait in Mexico for an asylum hearing to determine whether they were legitimate asylum seekers, as opposed to coming into the United States and being relocated into the interior while they await court dates. Of course, both of those policies, the constructing of the southern border wall and remain in Mexico policy were immediately ended by President Biden. The ending of the remain in Mexico policy and abuse of the asylum system accounts for 80% of the illegal immigration crisis within the first three years of the Biden Administration. That takes us to what Trump’s updated border policy is which he plans to implement upon becoming president once again.
Trump’s official policy positions are stated as “Agenda 47”. Specific to illegal immigration and southern border policy these are his stated positions he intends to enact upon becoming president once again – buckle up there’s a lot here:
- Restore all Trump border policies and fully secure border (restoring the stay in Mexico policy, ending of “Catch and Release” programs, restarting construction of the southern border wall)
- Total Ban on Taxpayer Dollars Used to Free Illegal Aliens and Criminal Penalties for Administrative Noncompliance
As for the specifics as to how policy would be carried out (including a myriad of Day 1 executive actions).
- Executive Order Implementing the Travel Ban and Pausing Refugee Admissions
- Executive Order on Border Security and Immigration Enforcement
- Presidential Memorandum on the Extreme Vetting of Foreign Nationals
- Presidential Memorandum to Create a National Vetting Center
- Executive Order to Unleash Interior Immigration Enforcement
- Executive Order to Block Federal Grants to Sanctuary Cities
- Presidential Memorandum Ordering DHS to Train National Guard Troops to Assist with Border Enforcement
- Presidential Memorandum to End "catch and release" at the Border
- Presidential Proclamation Suspending Entry Across Southern Border Outside Ports of Entry to Bar Asylum Access
- Executive Order requiring the U.S. Government to Prioritize the Hiring of U.S. Workers in the Administration of all Immigration Programs
- Executive Order on Aligning Federal Contracting and Hiring Practices with the Interests of American Workers
- Presidential Proclamation Suspending Chain Migration, Visa Lottery, and All Non-Essential Foreign Workers
- Presidential Proclamation on Suspension of Entry of Immigrants Who Will Financially Burden the United States Healthcare System
- Presidential Memorandum to Cut Off Immigrant Access to the Welfare State
- Work with state and local law enforcement agencies to identify illegal immigrants for deportation
- Get full cooperation of neighboring governments to dismantle the cartels, or else fully expose the bribes and corruption that protect these criminal networks
- Deploy all necessary military assets, including the U.S. Navy, to impose a full naval embargo on the cartels, to ensure they cannot use our region’s waters to traffic illicit drugs to the U.S.
- Order the Department of Defense to make appropriate use of special forces, cyber warfare, and other covert and overt actions to inflict maximum damage on cartel leadership, infrastructure, and operations
- Designate the major drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations
- Cut off the cartels’ access to the global financial system
- Ask Congress to ensure drug smugglers and traffickers can receive the Death Penalty
Obviously, it’s a very detailed plan that he’s immediately ready to act on. Unlike his first time as president when he had to fight legal challenges to his proposals that significantly slowed the implementation of his plan, he’s already won most of the legal battles necessary to immediately make these changes. Given the record illegal immigration crisis which has played out under the Biden administration, Trump’s updated plan is clearly far more robust than just a redux of his first term policies – though those were and are critical components of Trump’s big picture border and illegal immigrant plan.