WASHINGTON − On Monday, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border, directing U.S. military forces to counter what he termed “forms of invasion,” which encompasses illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

The executive orders released late Monday seem to prepare for Trump’s promised immigration enforcement strategy, which includes proposals to end birthright citizenship for some children of foreign nationals.

“I will declare a national emergency at our southern border,” Trump announced in his inaugural address. The declaration was shared shortly before 9 p.m. “All illegal entries will cease immediately, and we will begin the process of sending millions of undocumented immigrants back to their countries.”

Earlier during the day, White House officials, who requested to remain unnamed, indicated that additional executive actions would halt refugee resettlements, expedite border wall construction, restrict entry from “countries of concern,” and aim to revoke the constitutional right to citizenship for certain children born in the U.S. to foreign nationals.

The administration plans to classify drug cartels as “global terrorists” and engage the military in operations against them. However, officials did not disclose specific details about military engagement rules.

Trump’s promise of a large-scale deportation was one of the main themes of his election campaign, claiming that millions would be expelled from the nation.

One of the administration’s immediate moves was to disable a feature of the CBP One mobile app that allowed migrants to schedule appointments for entry at U.S. ports. Customs and Border Protection had permitted up to 1,450 migrants daily to apply for entry through this app.

As a result, many migrants who had scheduled appointments following Trump’s noon inauguration were disappointed. At an international bridge leading to El Paso, Texas, dozens of individuals from countries like Cuba, Colombia, and Venezuela awaited their 1 p.m. appointments, only to be told by Mexican officials that they would not be allowed through. Many were left in tears or disbelief.

This anticipated declaration of a national emergency arises at a time when illegal border crossings are lower than they have been in over five years. In early January, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported approximately 1,000 migrant encounters each day along the California-Texas border, a 75% decrease compared to the previous year.

Before noon, officials from the administration described the frequency of the new executive orders as a response to “widespread chaos” that they attributed to the Biden administration. They cited record levels of encounters with migrants lacking legal status, including many unaccompanied minors, despite a significant reduction in unlawful crossings the prior year.

Elizabeth Goitein, senior director for liberty and national security at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, noted that the national emergency declaration unlocks around 150 different legal powers. She anticipates it will serve purposes similar to Trump’s 2019 emergency declaration, specifically to redirect funds from the Defense Department for border security needs.

Executive actions concerning border security and immigration

Trump has consistently promised more executive actions focused on border security starting on “Day One.” The ten orders issued constitute the initial set of directives, as stated by White House officials.

One of the orders seeks to revoke birthright citizenship, a right protected by the 14th Amendment that grants citizenship to any child born in the U.S., a provision established in the post-Civil War era. This order intends to refuse citizenship to children born to some foreign nationals who are illegally in the country.

Another order designates criminal cartels as “global terrorist organizations,” allowing military involvement. This order aims at tackling transnational gangs like Tren De Aragua and MS-13, as well as combatting the trafficking of fentanyl and other illegal drugs.

During his inaugural speech, Trump mentioned that he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to combat foreign gangs.

“I will direct our government to use the full power of federal and state law enforcement to eradicate all foreign gangs and criminal networks that are bringing significant crime into the U.S., affecting our cities and communities,” Trump declared.

Chad Wolf, a previous acting Secretary of Homeland Security, who now leads the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank, remarked that the designation of Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations is crucial for fighting organized crime and trafficking.

“To secure our borders, protect our communities, and defend our sovereignty, we must confront the cartels with the full force of the law,” Wolf stated. He added that the order “sends a strong message that we will not tolerate their extortion, trafficking, and violence, and we will act decisively to dismantle their operations and restore safety and justice to our borders.”

Another executive action stipulates the death penalty for capital offenses committed by immigrants residing illegally in the country.

Immigrant advocates vow to resist

Immigrant advocacy groups were prepared for these sweeping executive orders and stated their intentions to challenge them through lobbying and legal action.

One of the initial lawsuits was filed on the same day in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

An advocacy group from El Paso submitted a motion within an ongoing lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security. In this new submission, the Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center argued that the cancellation of CBP One appointments effectively eliminated “the only method by which a person arriving at the U.S. southern border could maintain the right to seek asylum.”

Paige Austin, overseeing litigation at Make the Road New York, an organization that supports immigrant rights, remarked that the new administration should anticipate legal challenges. She pointed to previous successes by advocates against Trump’s attempts to dismantle DACA, incorporate a citizenship query in the Census, and broaden expedited removals.

Such litigation might serve to protect the principle of birthright citizenship, she noted during a recent press conference.

Greisa Martínez Rosas, executive director of United We Dream Action, another organization advocating for immigrant rights, expressed that they are ready to combat what she termed “Trump’s terror campaign against immigrant communities.”

“We will face the turmoil,” Rosas emphasized at a Thursday press meeting. “The landscape we are encountering is dire and devastating.”

The new administration may also confront lawsuits if Trump attempts to utilize the emergency declaration to reallocate Pentagon funding for border security initiatives, including the construction of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Goitein from the Brennan Center indicated that federal courts have previously ruled the border wall did not fit the definition of a military construction project according to the law. However, those rulings have been stayed pending appeals and are still unresolved.the Supreme Court after former President Joe Biden rescinded the declaration.

“This is going to be contested in the courts,” Goitein mentioned. Trump “is likely to face challenges there … This is not the intended use of emergency powers.”

Trump’s Deportation Record

Despite his commitment to curb illegal immigration during his first term, Trump did not reach the annual deportation rates achieved by President Barack Obama.

During Obama’s presidency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is responsible for enforcing immigration laws domestically, deported over 360,000 individuals each year throughout six years of his administration, with a peak exceeding 400,000 in 2012. This aggressive enforcement drew criticism from immigrant advocates, who dubbed Obama the “Deporter-in-Chief” during that time.

Trump oversaw more than 935,000 deportations throughout his four years, with over 260,000 deportations in 2019 alone, marking the highest annual figure.

This time around, Trump might utilize an authority that is generally reserved for wartime to fulfill his mass deportation objectives. An executive order released on Monday could lead to significant immigration enforcement, reminiscent of efforts not seen since World War II, through the possible invocation of the Alien Enemies Act.

The order stipulates a 14-day deadline for Trump to invoke this Act’s authority.

Katherine Ebright, a legal advisor at the Brennan Center for Justice’s center for liberty and national security, stated that the 1798 Alien Enemies Act was designed to be a wartime tool for detaining or expelling designated adversaries.

Trump has indicated plans to target members of criminal organizations, such as Venezuela’s Tren De Aragua and MS-13, the latter originating in Los Angeles and spreading to El Salvador and Guatemala. However, experts express concerns that this order could be applied on a much broader scale.

“Any invocation places us in unprecedented territory,” Ebright warned. “It’s a mechanism to sidestep due process.”

Traditionally, a designated country is identified during wartime, which is why Japanese nationals were labeled enemy aliens following Pearl Harbor, while members of Al Qaeda, a stateless terrorist group, were not after the September 11, 2001 attacks. This would mark the first time an enemy designation is made against a criminal gang without a formal state of war.

“It’s never happened before,” Ebright noted.

During his initial term, Trump encountered a surge in illegal border crossings at the beginning of his presidency and had to reallocate resources from interior enforcement to border security. The final year of his tenure was influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in a reduction in ICE removals.

This article has been updated to provide more information.