On January 25, 2017, consistent with several campaign promises, President Trump signed two Executive Orders which focus on the following:
- Securing the Southern border of the United States through immediate construction of a physical wall to be monitored and supported by personnel and technology.
- Expediting the detention and removal of those undocumented aliens with claims which have been lawfully rejected.
- Authorizing the immediate hiring of an additional 10,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) Officers.
- Identification of sanctuary cities (those which refuse to release individuals charged with immigration crimes) and recalcitrant countries (those which refuse to accept their nationals upon deportation or removal from the U.S.
- Sanctions and other economic actions against identified U.S. sanctuary cities.
This first Immigration and Homeland Security-related Executive Orders are expected to be only the start. These orders permit the Secretary of Homeland Security to take all action to allocate all legally available resources to not only construct and operate a physical wall along our nearly 2,000 mile Southern border, but also to construct, staff and operate any necessary detention facilities to properly detain and determine the eligibility of non-U.S. citizens to remain.
- The order requires the U.S. Attorney General to re-assign Immigration Judges to these detention facilities.
Appropriations are likely to present a huge issue to slow the implementation of these goals. Correspondingly, the head of each Executive Department and Agency must report and identify all sources of direct and indirect Federal Aid or assistance to the Government of Mexico for the past five years within thirty days of the Executive Order, confirming the suspicion that rather than massive new appropriations being requested for these costs that the re-direction of funds presently benefiting Mexico will be largely re-directed to absorb these costs.
- Overall, the initial Executive Orders with reference to immigration are aggressive ones which will take several months, if not years to successfully implement. The Orders have no effect on typical Immigration Visas, Employment Visas or the Green Card or Naturalization Processes. Your business and family-related immigration petitions will not be effected.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.