AILSA CHANG, HOST:
President Trump was sworn into office earlier today and has now signed a series of executive actions related to immigration. They are the first steps in a sweeping immigration crackdown for Trump's second term. He laid out some of these proposals in his inaugural address in the U.S. Capitol rotunda.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.
CHANG: Now, many of the details of Trump's agenda are still unclear, but that agenda is very likely to face logistical and legal challenges. NPR's Joel Rose has been following all of this and joins us now, Hi, Joel.
JOEL ROSE, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: OK. So what do we know as of now about all of these executive actions on immigration?
ROSE: Well, Trump said in his inaugural address that he is declaring a national emergency at the Southern border and that he will send U.S. troops there. He pledged to use the full and immense power, as he put it, of federal and state law enforcement to round up, arrest and deport immigrants with criminal records. That could happen really at any time. Trump also said he would designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
All of this is part of an ambitious agenda that could reshape border security and immigration policy in the U.S. for a very long time. And it goes well beyond what Trump tried to do in his first term, but, as in his first term, much of this agenda will likely encounter legal challenges.
CHANG: Right. OK, so what policies do you think are most likely to be challenged?
ROSE: I would start with - the president signed an executive action aimed at ending birthright citizenship for children born to immigrants who are in the U.S. without legal status. Many legal scholars say that would be unconstitutional. So that is very likely to be challenged in court and maybe in Congress as well. Trump officials also say the administration will seek to cut off illegal entry at the Southern border, even for people who are seeking asylum, including those fleeing from war and oppression. That's also very likely to be challenged.
And Trump is bringing back some executive actions that might be familiar from his first term - restarting construction of the border wall, suspending refugee resettlement and reinstating the policy called Remain in Mexico, which forced migrants to wait south of the border while their asylum claims are heard.
CHANG: OK. That is a lot. But, I mean, Trump did campaign and he did win in large part because of his pledge to crack down on immigration and border security, right? So what's been the reaction from his supporters so far?
ROSE: Yeah. NPR spoke to some Trump supporters who came to town for the inauguration today who told us they were not happy with record levels of illegal immigration during the first part of the Biden administration; for example, Ethan Zhang, who is himself an immigrant from Western China, a green card holder who works in marketing in New York. And Zhang says his neighborhood in Queens deteriorated during the last four years, and he blames immigrants who are here with no legal status.
ETHAN ZHANG: I used to live in Queens. My neighborhood used to be quiet. And it's when they got in - they play music very loud, and they just don't respect anything, you know?
CHANG: OK. And what about immigrant advocates? What are they saying today about all of this?
ROSE: I talked to Kerri Talbot with the nonprofit Immigration Hub. She says the breadth and cruelty of these executive actions is what stood out for her. And Talbot noted that illegal crossings have already fallen to some of their lowest levels in years.
KERRI TALBOT: No, it's not an emergency right now. You know, the Trump administration is just using that language to scare people and to justify really extreme actions.
CHANG: And real quick, Joel, any other important changes in immigration policy that were announced today?
ROSE: Yeah. I want to mention the Trump administration has already shut down the CBP One app. This is an app that's allowed tens of thousands of migrants to make appointments to present themselves at the border in order to seek asylum. And closing it down now effectively closes off one of the last legal pathways for doing that.
CHANG: That is NPR's Joel Rose. Thank you so much, Joel.
ROSE: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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