President Trump’s Inauguration Day Immigration Executive Orders
Over the day yesterday, Kit Johnson filled us in on the immigration highlights of the inauguration and the revocation of various Biden immigration-related executive orders.
As expected, President Trump signed many, many executive orders and took many executive actions, including pardoning persons convicted in connection with the January 6 uprising in Washington, D.C. The entire set of executive orders are posted here.
1. GUARANTEEING THE STATES PROTECTION AGAINST INVASION. This order begins with quotations a case known well to immigration law professors:
“An essential feature of any sovereign nation is the existence of territorial boundaries and the inherent authority to decide who and what may cross those boundaries. The Supreme Court of the United States has described this power as a `fundamental act of sovereignty,’ which `stems not alone from legislative power but is inherent in the executive power to control the foreign affairs of the nation.’ U.S. ex rel. Knauff v. Shaughnessy, 338 U.S. 537, 542 (1950). The Supreme Court has recognized the inherent right and duty of the Executive Branch to defend our national sovereignty, stating that `[w]hen Congress prescribes a procedure concerning the admissibility of aliens, it is not dealing alone with a legislative power. It is implementing an inherent executive power.’ Id.”
2. Designating Cartels And Other Organizations As Foreign Terrorist Organizations And Specially Designated Global Terrorists
3. Protecting The United States From Foreign Terrorists And Other National Security And Public Safety Threats
4. Protecting The American People Against Invasion
5. Securing Our Borders
6. Protecting The Meaning And Value Of American Citizenship
The ACLU, Asian Law Caucus, and other civil rights groups have filed suit challenging the Executive Order’s elimination of birthright citizenship. Click here for a press release. Click here for commentary on birthright citizenship.
7. Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program
“This order suspends the [United States Refugee Admissions Program] until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States.”
8. Clarifying The Military’s Role In Protecting The Territorial Integrity Of The United States
Click here for various legal issues raised by involving the military in immigration enforcement.
9. Declaring A National Emergency At The Southern Border Of The United States
For a summary of President Trump’s immigration executive orders by Brett Samuels and Rebeccas Bietsch for The Hill, click here. Under the orders, the Remain in Mexico policy put in place in President Trump’s first term will return and asylum seekers who come to the border will be required to wait in Mexico while their claims are decided.
Besides the executive orders, President Trump on Day 1 removed four Executive Office of Immigration Review from their positions on Monday. “The four officials included Mary Cheng, the acting director of the Executive Office of Immigration Review. The three others fired were Sheila McNulty, the chief immigration judge; Lauren Alder Reid, the head of policy for the agency; and Jill Anderson, the general counsel in the Executive Office of Immigration Review.” The immigration court system is undergoing an overhaul.
The Trump administration also shut down the CBPOne app, which allowed asylum seekers to schedule appointments at ports of entry.
Expect regular commentary on the various immigration executive orders.
KJ