Outline of President Trump’s January 20 Immigration and Border Executive Actions

Below are links to the nine immigration- and border-related executive orders and other presidential actions issued by President Trump on inauguration day, with a bulleted summary of each.

• “Determines that the current situation at the southern border qualifies as an invasion under Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution” and “suspends the physical entry of aliens involved in an invasion into the United States across the southern border until I determine that the invasion has concluded.”
• Suspension of entry, pursuant to 212(f) and 215(a) of INA, of aliens “engaged in invasion” across the southern border
• Restriction from invoking provisions of the INA that would permit their continues presence in the United States – including section 208 (asylum).
• Suspension of entry into the United States of any alien who fails to valkprovide federal officials with sufficient medical information and reliable criminal history and background information as to enable the fulfillment of the requirements of sections 212(a)(1)-(3).
• Invokes the president’s constitutional authorities under Article II to effectuate the guarantee of protection against invasion and suspend the physical entry of any alien “engaged in the invasion” across the southern border; directs the Secretary of Homeland Security, Secretary of State and Attorney General to take appropriate actions to achieve this.
• Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security, Secretary of State and Attorney General to take all appropriate action to repel, repatriate, or remove any alien “engaged in invasion”.

• Creates a process by which certain international cartels and other organizations will be designated as “Foreign Terrorist Organizations,” consistent with section 219 of the INA or Specially Designated Global Terrorists, consistent with IEEPA (50 U.S.C. § 1702) and Executive Order 13224 of September 23, 2001 (Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions With Persons Who Commit, Threaten to Commit, or Support Terrorism).
• Directs the Secretary of State to, within 14 days of the date of this order, take all appropriate action, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence, to make a recommendation regarding the designation of any cartel or other organization as a Foreign Terrorist Organization consistent with 8 U.S.C. § 1189 and/or a Specially Designated Global Terrorist consistent with 50 U.S.C. § 1702 and Executive Order 13224.
• Directs the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security, within 14 days of the date of this order, to take all appropriate action, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to make operational preparations regarding the implementation of any decision I make to invoke the Alien Enemies Act, 50 U.S.C. § 21 et seq., in relation to the existence of any qualifying invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States by a qualifying actor, and to prepare such facilities as necessary to expedite the removal of those who may be designated under this order.

Directs the Secretary of State, Attorney General, Secretary of Homeland Security and Director of National intelligence to: 

• Enhance vetting and screening and identify all resources that may be used to ensure that all aliens seeking admission to the United States or who are already here are vetted and screened to the maximum extent.
• Evaluate all visa programs to ensure that they are not used by foreign nation-states or other hostile actors to harm the security, economic, political, cultural, or other national interests of the United States.
• Recommend any actions necessary to protect the American people from the actions of foreign nationals who have undermined or seek to undermine the fundamental constitutional rights of the American people, including, but not limited to, our Citizens’ rights to freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion protected by the First Amendment, who preach or call for sectarian violence, the overthrow or replacement of the culture on which our constitutional Republic stands, or who provide aid, advocacy, or support for foreign terrorists.
• Evaluate the adequacy of programs designed to ensure the proper assimilation of lawful immigrants into the United States, and recommend any additional measures to be taken that promote a unified American identity and attachment to the Constitution, laws, and founding principles of the United States.
• Identify countries throughout the world for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries pursuant to section 212(f) of the INA.

• Declares that it is the policy of the United States to faithfully execute the immigration laws against all inadmissible and removable aliens and to achieve the total and efficient enforcement of those laws, including through lawful incentives and detention capabilities.
• Revokes former President Biden’s immigration-related executive orders.
• Directs executive agencies to take all appropriate action to promptly revoke all memoranda, guidance, or other policies based on former President Biden’s executive orders and to “employ all lawful means to ensure the faithful execution of the immigration laws of the United States”.
• Instructs the Secretary of Homeland Security to take all appropriate action to enable the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to set priorities for their agencies that protect the public safety and national security interests of the American people, including by ensuring the successful enforcement of final orders of removal.  
• Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to ensure that the primary mission of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations division is the enforcement of the provisions of the INA and other Federal laws related to the illegal entry and unlawful presence of aliens in the United States and the enforcement of the purposes of this order.
• Directs the Attorney General, in coordination with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security, to take all appropriate action to prioritize the prosecution of criminal offenses related to the unauthorized entry or continued unauthorized presence of aliens in the United States.
• Instructs the Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security to establish homeland security task forces in all states to end the presence of criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, dismantle cross border human smuggling, end human trafficking, and directs the task forces focus on offenses involving children.
• Orders the Secretary of Homeland Security and Attorney General to announce and publicize the legal obligation of all unregistered aliens to comply with Chapter 12 of Title 8 of the U.S. Code, including registration requirements and ensure that failure to comply with the legal obligations is treated as civil and criminal enforcement priorities.
• Orders the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Treasury to take all appropriate action to ensure the assessment and collection of all fines and penalties that the Secretary of Homeland Security is authorized by law to assess and collect from aliens unlawfully present in the United States, including aliens who unlawfully entered or unlawfully attempted to enter the United States, and from those who facilitate such aliens’ presence in the United States.
• Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to utilize Expedited Removal procedures to ensure the efficient removal of aliens who are subject to 235(b)(1)(a).
• Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to promptly take all appropriate action and allocate all legally available resources or establish contracts to construct, operate, control, or use facilities to detain removable aliens and to 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.
• Orders for the increase of 287(g) agreements.
• Directs the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and State to adopt policies and procedures to encourage aliens unlawfully in the United States to voluntarily depart as soon as possible, including through enhanced usage of the provisions of section 240B of the INA, international agreements or assistance, or any other measures that encourage aliens unlawfully in the United States to depart as promptly as possible.
• Directs the Secretary of State to ensure that diplomatic efforts and negotiations with foreign states include the foreign states’ acceptance of their nationals who are subject to removal from the United States and to eliminate all documentary barriers, dilatory tactics, or other restrictions that prevent the prompt repatriation of aliens to any foreign state. Orders the Secretary of State to issue sanctions to recalcitrant countries, where appropriate.
• Reestablishes of the VOICE office and addressing victims of crimes committed by removable aliens. Directs ICE to reestablish the office to provide proactive, timely, adequate, and professional services to victims of crimes committed by removable aliens, and those victims’ family members.
• Directs the Secretary of State, Attorney General, Secretary of Homeland Security to promptly take all appropriate action, consistent with law, to rescind the policy decisions of the previous administration that led to “the increased or continued presence of illegal aliens in the United States,” and align all departmental activities with the policies set out by this order and the immigration laws. This includes policies related to:
  • Parole
  • Temporary Protected Status
  • Employment authorization .
• Directs the Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security to take lawful actions to restrict sanctuary jurisdictions’ access to federal funds.
• Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to increase information sharing with state and local governments to fulfill law enforcement, citizenship, or immigration status verification requirements authorized by law.
• Directs the Attorney General, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Secretary of Homeland Security to take all appropriate action to stop the trafficking and smuggling of alien children into the United States, including through the sharing of any information necessary to assist in the achievement of that objective.
• Directs the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security to immediately review and, if appropriate, audit all contracts, grants, or other agreements providing Federal funding to non-governmental organizations supporting or providing services, either directly or indirectly, to removable or illegal aliens, to ensure that such agreements conform to applicable law and are free of waste, fraud, and abuse, and that they do not promote or facilitate violations of our immigration laws. Actions may include:
  • Pausing distribution of all further funds pursuant to such agreements pending the results of the review
  • Terminating all such agreements determined to be in violation of law or to be sources of waste, fraud, or abuse and prohibit any such future agreements
  • Initiating clawback or recoupment procedures, if appropriate, for any agreements.
• Instructs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to take all appropriate action to ensure that all agencies identify and stop the provision of any public benefits to any illegal alien not authorized to receive them under the provisions of the INA or other relevant statutory provisions.
• Authorizes, subject to available appropriations, the Department of Homeland Security to “significantly increase” the number of Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

• Sets out that it’s the policy of the United States to take all appropriate action to secure the borders of our nation through:
  • Physical wall and other barriers
  • Deterring and preventing the entry of inadmissible aliens
  • Detaining aliens subject to mandatory detention
  • Removing removable aliens promptly
  • Pursuing criminal charges against aliens who violate immigration laws
  • Cooperating with state and local law enforcement and enacting partnerships to enforce federal immigration priorities
  • Obtaining complete operational control of the border.
• Directs the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security to take all appropriate action to deploy and construct temporary and permanent physical barriers to ensure operational control of the southern border.
• Directs the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security to take all appropriate and lawful action to deploy sufficient personnel along the southern border of the United States to ensure complete operational control – including by directing the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to take all appropriate action to supplement available personnel to secure the southern border and enforce the immigration laws of the United States through the use of sections 1103(a)(2) and (4)-(6) of the INA.
• Orders the Secretary of Homeland Security to take all appropriate actions to detain, to the fullest extent permitted by law, aliens apprehended for violations of immigration law until their successful removal from the United States.
• Orders the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to resume use of the Migrant Protection Protocols (Remain in Mexico program).
• Orders the Department of Homeland Security to adjust its parole policies by:
  • Ceasing use of CBP One as a method of paroling or facilitating the entry of inadmissible aliens
  • Terminating categorical parole programs
  • Making sure all parole policies align with statute.
• Instructs the Secretary of State and Secretary of Homeland Security to enter into asylum cooperative agreements or safe third country agreements.
• Orders the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to take all appropriate action to fulfill the requirements of the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005, title X of Public Law 109-162, for all detained aliens.
• Orders the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to take all appropriate action to prioritize the prosecution of offenses that relate to the borders of the United States, including the investigation and prosecution of offenses that involve human smuggling, human trafficking, child trafficking, and sex trafficking in the United States.

• Explains that the Fourteenth Amendment has always excluded from birthright citizenship persons who were born in the United States but not “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”  Consistent with this understanding, the Congress has further specified through legislation that “a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” is a national and citizen of the United States at birth, 8 U.S.C. § 1401, generally mirroring the Fourteenth Amendment’s text.
• Declares that it is the policy of the United States that no department or agency of the United States government shall issue documents recognizing United States citizenship, or accept documents issued by State, local, or other governments or authorities purporting to recognize United States citizenship, to persons:  (1) when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or (2) when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States was lawful but temporary, and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.
• The policy only applies to persons who are born within the United States after 30 days from the date of the order.

• Declares that it is the policy of the United States to ensure that public safety and national security are paramount considerations in the administration of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), and to admit only those refugees who can fully and appropriately assimilate into the United States and to ensure that the United States preserves taxpayer resources for its citizens.  
• Declares that it is also the policy of the United States that, to the extent permitted by law and as practicable, state and local jurisdictions be granted a role in the process of determining the placement or settlement in their jurisdictions of aliens eligible to be admitted to the United States as refugees.
• Suspends the of entry into the United States of refugees under the USRAP.
• Authorizes the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security to jointly determine to admit aliens to the United States as refugees on a case-by-case basis, in their discretion, but only so long as they determine that the entry of such aliens as refugees is in the national interest and does not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the United States.
• Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security and Attorney General to provide state and local jurisdictions with greater involvement in refugee resettlement.
• Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to submit a report to the President through the Homeland Security Advisor regarding whether resumption of entry of refugees into the United States under USRAP would be in the interests of the United States, in light of the policies in this order, within 90 days of this order.  Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to submit further reports every 90 days thereafter until President Trump determines that resumption of USRAP is in the interests of the United States.
• Revokes Biden’s order: Executive Order 14013 of February 4, 2021 (Rebuilding and Enhancing Programs To Resettle Refugees and Planning for the Impact of Climate Change on Migration).

• Declares that it is the policy of the United States to ensure that the Armed Forces of the United States prioritize the protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United States along our national borders.
• Directs Secretary of Defense to, no later than 10 days from the effective date of this order, deliver to the President a revision to the Unified Command Plan that assigns United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) mission to seal the borders and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States by repelling forms of invasion including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities.

• Reiterates that the US is experiencing an invasion over the southern border.
• Declares that the emergency requires use of the Armed Forces and, in accordance with section 301 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. § 1631), and orders that the construction authority provided in section 2808 of Title 10, United States Code, is invoked and made available, according to its terms, to the Secretary of Defense and, at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense, to the Secretaries of the military departments. 
• Authorizes the deployment of personnel and resources by the Department of Defense, as appropriate and consistent with law, to use the Armed Forces, including the Ready Reserve and the National Guard, as the Secretary of Defense determines to be appropriate to support the activities of the Secretary of Homeland Security in obtaining complete operational control of the southern border of the United States.
• Orders Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to immediately take all appropriate action, consistent with law, including 10 U.S.C. § 2214, to construct additional physical barriers along the southern border.
• Directs the Secretary of Transportation and the Federal Communications Commission to, consistent with applicable law, consider waiving all applicable Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Communications Commission regulations or policies, respectively, that restrict the Department of Homeland Security’s ability to counter unmanned aerial systems within five miles of the southern border.