President Trump issued the following executive order within five days of his inauguration.
These 70 points constitute his entire Immigration Enforcement Plan.
Check it out for yourself, and ask Congress to put all of them into action:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the
laws of the United States of America, including the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) (INA), the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (Public Law
109-367) (Secure Fence Act), and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-208 Div. C) (IIRIRA), and in order
to ensure the safety and territorial integrity of the United States as well as
to ensure that the Nation’s immigration laws are faithfully executed, I hereby
order as follows:
Section 1. Purpose. Border security is critically important to the
national security of the United States. Aliens who illegally enter the United
States without inspection or admission present a significant threat to national
security and public safety. Such aliens have not been identified or inspected
by Federal immigration officers to determine their admissibility to the United
States. The recent surge of illegal immigration at the southern border with
Mexico has placed a significant strain on Federal resources and overwhelmed
agencies charged with border security and immigration enforcement, as well as
the local communities into which many of the aliens are placed.
Transnational criminal organizations operate sophisticated drug- and
human-trafficking networks and smuggling operations on both sides of the
southern border, contributing to a significant increase in violent crime and
United States deaths from dangerous drugs. Among those who illegally enter are
those who seek to harm Americans through acts of terror or criminal conduct.
Continued illegal immigration presents a clear and present danger to the
interests of the United States.
Federal immigration law both imposes the responsibility and provides
the means for the Federal Government, in cooperation with border States, to
secure the Nation’s southern border. Although Federal immigration law provides
a robust framework for Federal-State partnership in enforcing our immigration
laws – and the Congress has authorized and provided appropriations to secure
our borders – the Federal Government has failed to discharge this basic
sovereign responsibility. The purpose of this order is to direct executive
departments and agencies (agencies) to deploy all lawful means to secure the
Nation’s southern border, to prevent further illegal immigration into the
United States, and to repatriate illegal aliens swiftly, consistently, and
humanely.
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the executive branch to:
(a) secure the southern border of the United States through the
immediate construction of a physical wall on the southern border, monitored and
supported by adequate personnel so as to prevent illegal immigration, drug and
human trafficking, and acts of terrorism;
(b) detain individuals apprehended on suspicion of violating Federal or
State law, including Federal immigration law, pending further proceedings
regarding those violations;
(c) expedite determinations of apprehended individuals’ claims of
eligibility to remain in the United States;
(d) remove promptly those individuals whose legal claims to remain in
the United States have been lawfully rejected, after any appropriate civil or
criminal sanctions have been imposed;
(e) cooperate fully with States and local law enforcement in enacting
Federal-State partnerships to enforce Federal immigration priorities, as well
as State monitoring and detention programs that are consistent with Federal law
and do not undermine Federal immigration priorities.
Sec. 3. Definitions. (a) “Asylum officer” has the meaning given the
term in section 235(b)(1)(E) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)).
(b) “Southern border” shall mean the contiguous land border between the
United States and Mexico, including all points of entry.
(c) “Border States” shall mean the States of the United States
immediately adjacent to the contiguous land border between the United States
and Mexico.
(d) Except as otherwise noted, “the Secretary” shall refer to the
Secretary of Homeland Security.
(e) “Wall” shall mean a contiguous, physical wall or other similarly
secure, contiguous, and impassable physical barrier.
(f) “Executive department” shall have the meaning given in section 101
of title 5, United States Code.
(g) “Regulations” shall mean any and all Federal rules, regulations,
and directives lawfully promulgated by agencies.
(h) “Operational control” shall mean the prevention of all unlawful
entries into the United States, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful
aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband.
Sec. 4. Physical Security of the Southern Border of the United States.
The Secretary shall immediately take the following steps to obtain complete
operational control, as determined by the Secretary, of the southern border:
(a) In accordance with existing law, including the Secure Fence Act and
IIRIRA, take all appropriate steps to immediately plan, design, and construct a
physical wall along the southern border, using appropriate materials and
technology to most effectively achieve complete operational control of the
southern border;
(b) Identify and, to the extent permitted by law, allocate all sources
of Federal funds for the planning, designing, and constructing of a physical
wall along the southern border;
(c) Project and develop long-term funding requirements for the wall,
including preparing Congressional budget requests for the current and upcoming
fiscal years; and
(d) Produce a comprehensive study of the security of the southern
border, to be completed within 180 days of this order, that shall include the
current state of southern border security, all geophysical and topographical
aspects of the southern border, the availability of Federal and State resources
necessary to achieve complete operational control of the southern border, and a
strategy to obtain and maintain complete operational control of the southern
border.
Sec. 5. Detention Facilities. (a) The Secretary shall take all
appropriate action and allocate all legally available resources to immediately
construct, operate, control, or establish contracts to construct, operate, or
control facilities to detain aliens at or near the land border with Mexico.
(b) The Secretary shall take all appropriate action and allocate all
legally available resources to immediately assign asylum officers to
immigration detention facilities for the purpose of accepting asylum referrals
and conducting credible fear determinations pursuant to section 235(b)(1) of
the INA (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)) and applicable regulations and reasonable fear
determinations pursuant to applicable regulations.
(c) The Attorney General shall take all appropriate action and allocate
all legally available resources to immediately assign immigration judges to
immigration detention facilities operated or controlled by the Secretary, or
operated or controlled pursuant to contract by the Secretary, for the purpose
of conducting proceedings authorized under title 8, chapter 12, subchapter II,
United States Code.
Sec. 6. Detention for Illegal Entry. The Secretary shall immediately
take all appropriate actions to ensure the detention of aliens apprehended for
violations of immigration law pending the outcome of their removal proceedings
or their removal from the country to the extent permitted by law. The Secretary
shall issue new policy guidance to all Department of Homeland Security
personnel regarding the appropriate and consistent use of lawful detention
authority under the INA, including the termination of the practice commonly
known as “catch and release,” whereby aliens are routinely released in the
United States shortly after their apprehension for violations of immigration
law.
Sec. 7. Return to Territory. The Secretary shall take appropriate
action, consistent with the requirements of section 1232 of title 8, United
States Code, to ensure that aliens described in section 235(b)(2)(C) of the INA
(8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(2)(C)) are returned to the territory from which they came
pending a formal removal proceeding.
Sec. 8. Additional Border Patrol Agents. Subject to available
appropriations, the Secretary, through the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and
Border Protection, shall take all appropriate action to hire 5,000 additional
Border Patrol agents, and all appropriate action to ensure that such agents
enter on duty and are assigned to duty stations as soon as is practicable.
Sec. 9. Foreign Aid Reporting Requirements. The head of each executive
department and agency shall identify and quantify all sources of direct and
indirect Federal aid or assistance to the Government of Mexico on an annual
basis over the past five years, including all bilateral and multilateral
development aid, economic assistance, humanitarian aid, and military aid.
Within 30 days of the date of this order, the head of each executive department
and agency shall submit this information to the Secretary of State. Within 60
days of the date of this order, the Secretary shall submit to the President a
consolidated report reflecting the levels of such aid and assistance that has
been provided annually, over each of the past five years.
Sec. 10. Federal-State Agreements. It is the policy of the executive
branch to empower State and local law enforcement agencies across the country
to perform the functions of an immigration officer in the interior of the
United States to the maximum extent permitted by law.
(a) In furtherance of this policy, the Secretary shall immediately take
appropriate action to engage with the Governors of the States, as well as local
officials, for the purpose of preparing to enter into agreements under section
287(g) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1357(g)).
(b) To the extent permitted by law, and with the consent of State or
local officials, as appropriate, the Secretary shall take appropriate action,
through agreements under section 287(g) of the INA, or otherwise, to authorize
State and local law enforcement officials, as the Secretary determines are
qualified and appropriate, to perform the functions of immigration officers in
relation to the investigation, apprehension, or detention of aliens in the
United States under the direction and the supervision of the Secretary. Such
authorization shall be in addition to, rather than in place of, Federal
performance of these duties.
(c) To the extent permitted by law, the Secretary may structure each
agreement under section 287(g) of the INA in the manner that provides the most
effective model for enforcing Federal immigration laws and obtaining
operational control over the border for that jurisdiction.
Sec. 11. Parole, Asylum, and Removal. It is the policy of the executive
branch to end the abuse of parole and asylum provisions currently used to
prevent the lawful removal of removable aliens.
(a) The Secretary shall immediately take all appropriate action to
ensure that the parole and asylum provisions of Federal immigration law are not
illegally exploited to prevent the removal of otherwise removable aliens.
(b) The Secretary shall take all appropriate action, including by
promulgating any appropriate regulations, to ensure that asylum referrals and
credible fear determinations pursuant to section 235(b)(1) of the INA (8 U.S.C.
1125(b)(1)) and 8 CFR 208.30, and reasonable fear determinations pursuant to 8
CFR 208.31, are conducted in a manner consistent with the plain language of
those provisions.
(c) Pursuant to section 235(b)(1)(A)(iii)(I) of the INA, the Secretary
shall take appropriate action to apply, in his sole and unreviewable
discretion, the provisions of section 235(b)(1)(A)(i) and (ii) of the INA to
the aliens designated under section 235(b)(1)(A)(iii)(II).
(d) The Secretary shall take appropriate action to ensure that parole
authority under section 212(d)(5) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)) is exercised
only on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the plain language of the
statute, and in all circumstances only when an individual demonstrates urgent
humanitarian reasons or a significant public benefit derived from such parole.
(e) The Secretary shall take appropriate action to require that all
Department of Homeland Security personnel are properly trained on the proper
application of section 235 of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims
Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) and section 462(g)(2) of
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(g)(2)), to ensure that
unaccompanied alien children are properly processed, receive appropriate care
and placement while in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security, and,
when appropriate, are safely repatriated in accordance with law.
Sec. 12. Authorization to Enter Federal Lands. The Secretary, in
conjunction with the Secretary of the Interior and any other heads of agencies
as necessary, shall take all appropriate action to:
(a) permit all officers and employees of the United States, as well as
all State and local officers as authorized by the Secretary, to have access to
all Federal lands as necessary and appropriate to implement this order; and
(b) enable those officers and employees of the United States, as well
as all State and local officers as authorized by the Secretary, to perform such
actions on Federal lands as the Secretary deems necessary and appropriate to
implement this order.
Sec. 13. Priority Enforcement. The Attorney General shall take all
appropriate steps to establish prosecution guidelines and allocate appropriate
resources to ensure that Federal prosecutors accord a high priority to
prosecutions of offenses having a nexus to the southern border.
Sec. 14. Government Transparency. The Secretary shall, on a monthly
basis and in a publicly available way, report statistical data on aliens
apprehended at or near the southern border using a uniform method of reporting
by all Department of Homeland Security components, in a format that is easily
understandable by the public.
Sec. 15. Reporting. Except as otherwise provided in this order, the
Secretary, within 90 days of the date of this order, and the Attorney General,
within 180 days, shall each submit to the President a report on the progress of
the directives contained in this order.
Sec. 16. Hiring. The Office of Personnel Management shall take
appropriate action as may be necessary to facilitate hiring personnel to
implement this order.
Sec. 17. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be
construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency,
or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and
subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or
benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any
party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its
officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
DONALD J. TRUMP
THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 25, 2017.
