Trump's Day One: Deportations, border wall, scrapping Biden humanitarian programmes

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump is expected to take a slew of executive actions on his first day as president to ramp up immigration enforcement and roll back signature Biden legal entry programmes, a sweeping effort that will be led by incoming "border czar" Tom Homan and other Republican immigration hardliners, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The executive actions would give federal immigration officers more latitude to arrest people with no criminal records, surge troops to the US-Mexico border and restart construction of the border wall, the sources said.

Homan, who served as acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement from 2017-2018 under Trump, will bring a deep understanding of the US immigration system after a four-decade career that took him from a frontline Border Patrol agent to head of the agency that arrests and deports immigrants in the US illegally.

Trump also is expected to end President Joe Biden's humanitarian programmes that allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants to enter legally in recent years and could encourage those with expired statuses to leave voluntarily, according to the sources, who declined to be identified.

"All of these should be on the table," said Mark Morgan, an immigration official in Trump's first four-year term who said he did not speak for the Trump transition team.

Trump's early executive actions would kick-start his immigration agenda, which includes a promise to deport record numbers of immigrants in the US illegally.

The US Department of Homeland Security estimated there were 11 million immigrants without legal status in 2022, a figure that may have increased. Some cities that received migrants, including New York, Chicago and Denver, struggled to house and aid them.

Trump, a Republican, defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in last week's presidential election. He made claims that the Biden administration allowed high levels of illegal immigration a focus of his campaign.

Trump's transition effort remains in its early stages, and plans could change before his inauguration on Jan 20. A Trump spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Migrant arrests reached a record during Biden's presidency, straining US border enforcement. But illegal crossings fell dramatically this year as Biden instituted new border restrictions and Mexico stepped up enforcement.

Trump aims to drive illegal crossings even lower and use a whole-of-government approach to arrest, detain and deport large numbers of people.

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Trump announced on Sunday night that Homan would serve as a White House "border czar" overseeing security and immigration enforcement. Vice President-elect JD Vance on Monday appeared to confirm that Stephen Miller, architect of Trump's restrictive first-term immigration agenda, would return as deputy chief of staff for policy, assuring the issue will remain central.

Trump also plans to nominate South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to become secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Noem, whose Midwestern home state is closer to Canada than Mexico, took a hardline stance on illegal immigration and made several trips in recent years to the US-Mexico border, which she called a "war zone" in January.

Trump's aggressive agenda will likely encounter legal challenges from states governed by Democrats, the American Civil Liberties Union and pro-immigration advocates.

Day One takes shape

One of Trump's Day One executive actions is expected to be an order on so-called interior enforcement, arresting and detaining immigrants in the US illegally, the sources said.

Trump intends to scrap Biden administration guidance that prioritised people with serious criminal records for deportation and limited enforcement against non-criminals, they said.

The Trump order would call for deportations to prioritise people charged with felonies and people who have exhausted their legal avenues to remain, but would not restrict officers from picking up other potentially deportable immigrants.

An estimated 1.4 million immigrants in the US have final deportation orders, according to ICE, a group that will be a focus for the incoming Trump administration.

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"A federal judge said, 'You must go home,' and they didn't," Homan told Fox News on Monday.

Certain groups — such as international students who support Palestinian militant group Hamas and have violated the terms of their student visas — could also be listed as a priority, two of the sources said.

ICE could use military planes in deportations and seek help from other government agencies to transport deportees, one source said. "All options are on the table," the source said.

Another order would deal with border security, the two sources said. Trump intends to send National Guard troops to the border and declare illegal immigration a national emergency to unlock funds for border wall construction, the sources said.

Wall construction in Arizona — where Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs has opposed Republican enforcement efforts — could be a priority, two sources said.

Ending Biden programmes

Trump plans to end Biden's temporary humanitarian "parole" programmes, which have allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants to enter legally and access work permits, the sources said.

The programmes include an initiative for certain migrants with US sponsors and another that allows migrants in Mexico to use an app to schedule border appointments.

People in the US with expired parole status who leave voluntarily could be allowed to apply for legal admission without penalties, the sources said.

Trump is also expected to talk with Mexico about reinstating his "Remain in Mexico" programme, which required non-Mexican asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their US cases were decided.

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