Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders this week to prevent Syrian refugees and Muslim immigrants from entering the United States. He's also expected to order the construction of his infamous, Mexican border wall on Wednesday.
The president is preparing to restrict access to the country from immigrants, refugees, some visa holders from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, Reuters reports, citing congressional aides briefed on the orders.
President Trump’s restrictions will likely include a multi-month ban on admitting immigrants from all countries until the State Department and Department of Homeland Security finalize an "extreme vetting" process.
Nihad Awad, the national executive director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, condemned the initial media reports of President Trump’s immigration orders.
"These [executive orders] will not make our nation safer,” he tweeted Tuesday night, “rather they will make it more fearful and less welcoming.”
In addition to the ban, the president will begin rolling out executive actions that include preparations for his wall on the US-Mexico border along with other enforcement plans, according to two administration officials who spoke to The Associated Press.
On the campaign trail, Mr Trump pledged to tighten US immigration policies, including a complete ban on Muslim immigrants from entering the states. He also promised to strengthen border security by building a wall while basically forcing the Mexican government to pay for it. The promise became one of the earliest policies and staple of his campaign.
He eventually softened his stance on both policies while promising to implement a process of extreme vetting for immigrants leaving countries in the Middle East. Come January, the newly elected president’s transition team began asking Congress to push funding for the wall through the country's appropriations budget.
On Wednesday afternoon, the president will travel to the Department of Homeland Security to direct the agency begin construction on the wall and repair fencing along the border. The executive order will also increase the staff at the Customs and Border Protection agency by hiring an additional 5,000 employees.
A second order seeks to eliminate sanctuary cities where governments refuse to hand over undocumented immigrants to federal authorities. CNN reports that it will triple resources for Immigration and Custom Enforcement and direct the feds to identify illegal immigrants in the states.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Monday that President Trump would be making his immigration policies a priority in the coming weeks.
"First and foremost, the President's been very, very clear that we need to direct agencies to focus on those who are in this country illegally and have a record — a criminal record or poses a threat to the American people," he said at the press briefing. "That's where the priorities going to be."
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