President Trump is expected to take on immigration Wednesday with executive orders aimed at building a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border and banning refugees from Muslim nations, according to reports.
Both actions were signature promises of his campaign.
“Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!” Trump tweeted Tuesday.
Trump is also expected to move forward soon with plans to curb funding to so-called sanctuary cities that don’t arrest or detain immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.
Trump is said to still be weighing the details of plans to restrict refugees coming to the U.S., including a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as a temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim majority countries.
In late 2015, Trump said that he would propose a complete ban on Muslims entering the United States, though he later walked back the comments and said that there would be a focus on “extreme vetting.”
The President would be within his rights to restrict the number of refugees and visas to specific countries, said immigration lawyer Stephen Legomsky, who worked as counsel for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for the Obama administration.
The George W. Bush administration temporarily halted the refugee processing system after Sept. 11, and restarted it after several months.
Bush also started the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System that registered and tracked non-citizens from 25 largely Muslim countries, though the program was suspended in 2011 and dismantled by Obama last month.
Trump has not said how long the "Muslim ban" or "extreme vetting" would be required, though an unidentified public policy organization representative told the Associated Press Tuesday that the halt on refugees would be at least four months.
Council for American-Islamic Relations spokesman Ibrahim Hooper told the Daily News Tuesday that "the people coming to the United States as refugees or through the visa process are already vetted ... It's all pandering to fear and Islamaphobia."
Both actions were signature promises of his campaign.
“Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!” Trump tweeted Tuesday.
Trump is also expected to move forward soon with plans to curb funding to so-called sanctuary cities that don’t arrest or detain immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.
Trump is said to still be weighing the details of plans to restrict refugees coming to the U.S., including a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as a temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim majority countries.
In late 2015, Trump said that he would propose a complete ban on Muslims entering the United States, though he later walked back the comments and said that there would be a focus on “extreme vetting.”
The President would be within his rights to restrict the number of refugees and visas to specific countries, said immigration lawyer Stephen Legomsky, who worked as counsel for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for the Obama administration.
The George W. Bush administration temporarily halted the refugee processing system after Sept. 11, and restarted it after several months.
Bush also started the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System that registered and tracked non-citizens from 25 largely Muslim countries, though the program was suspended in 2011 and dismantled by Obama last month.
Trump has not said how long the "Muslim ban" or "extreme vetting" would be required, though an unidentified public policy organization representative told the Associated Press Tuesday that the halt on refugees would be at least four months.
Council for American-Islamic Relations spokesman Ibrahim Hooper told the Daily News Tuesday that "the people coming to the United States as refugees or through the visa process are already vetted ... It's all pandering to fear and Islamaphobia."
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Above, migrants and refugees off the Libyan coast panic as they fall in the water during a rescue operation. (ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images) |
He said that CAIR, which has not been contacted for help forming policy by the administration, will look at the orders before deciding on possibly legal challenges.
The organization plans to issue a more in-depth response Wednesday, though it was not immediately clear if that set of actions would be the ones released.
"Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!" Trump posted on Twitter Tuesday evening.
The orders, expected to be signed during Trump's visit to the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday, also come ahead of a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
Trump has said that Mexico will pay for the wall, which became a common chant among his supporters during campaign rallies.
Mexican officials have repeatedly said that they will not, prompting Trump to say earlier this month that the barrier could be paid for by American taxpayers and that Mexico would later reimburse them.
There are already 700 miles of fencing along the border stemming from a 2006 law signed by Bush, and the current administration may rely on that law for its own additions.
The organization plans to issue a more in-depth response Wednesday, though it was not immediately clear if that set of actions would be the ones released.
"Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!" Trump posted on Twitter Tuesday evening.
The orders, expected to be signed during Trump's visit to the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday, also come ahead of a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
Trump has said that Mexico will pay for the wall, which became a common chant among his supporters during campaign rallies.
Mexican officials have repeatedly said that they will not, prompting Trump to say earlier this month that the barrier could be paid for by American taxpayers and that Mexico would later reimburse them.
There are already 700 miles of fencing along the border stemming from a 2006 law signed by Bush, and the current administration may rely on that law for its own additions.