Trump issued a wide range of executive orders on his first day in office, aligning the country with his agenda.
President Donald Trump set a breakneck pace on the first day of his second term, taking numerous executive actions and rescinding 78 executive orders from his predecessor, while also pardoning roughly 1,500 people charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, breach at the U.S. Capitol.
The commander-in-chief moved fast on the border, inflation, energy, government censorship, federal bureaucracy, and much more. He also officially renamed parts of the map, changing the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and reverting Denali back to Mount McKinley. Here’s a rundown of Trump’s first moves upon his return to the White House.
Border and Immigration
Trump issued 10 executive actions on border security, including a national emergency declaration to pave the way for military deployment to the border and the completion of a border wall.
Trump’s executive orders set the stage for deportation operations while cracking down on illegal immigration and crime.
Trump’s orders reinstate Remain in Mexico, end catch-and-release of illegal immigrants, designate cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, pause refugee resettlement, end birthright citizenship, and bring back the death penalty for certain crimes against federal agents.
By stopping catch-and-release and re-implementing policies such as Remain in Mexico, those seeking asylum will no longer be able to live and work in the United States while awaiting adjudication of their claim.
Those policies under President Joe Biden were a significant factor in attracting some 11 million illegal immigrants into the country in four years, experts have said.
Another executive order directs the attorney general to seek capital punishment for the murder of law enforcement officers and capital crimes committed by illegal immigrants.
Ending birthright citizenship will likely spark legal challenges.
Birthright citizenship is addressed under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, saying “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”
Trump’s order hinges on the “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” part of the amendment, meaning the federal government will not recognize automatic birthright citizenship for children born to illegal immigrant parents.
The idea of birthright citizenship was decided in the 1898 Supreme Court case United States v. Wong Kim Ark. The high court ruled that children born in the United States to immigrant parents are citizens, regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
Trump also rescinded multiple Biden executive orders related to the border and immigration.
By Nathan Worcester, Jacob Burg, John Haughey, Darlene McCormick Sanchez, Ryan Morgan, Savannah Hulsey Pointer, Andrew Moran
