WASHINGTON – During his inauguration, President Donald Trump outlined plans to take immediate executive action, beginning with declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“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,” said Trump.
One of the most notable actions Trump promised was to designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. He also announced plans to deploy troops to the southern border to support enforcement efforts.
By invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, Trump stated he would direct the federal government “to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to U.S. soil, including our cities and inner cities.”
Trump is set to issue ten executive orders Monday focused on border security. They include ending the Obama-era catch-and-release policy Trump ended in his first term, which former President Joe Biden reinstated.
Despite the actions, data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other federal agencies show the vast majority of fentanyl comes through legal ports of entry by native born Americans.