Trump to sign sweeping executive actions on immigration, launch fight to end birthright citizenship

Incoming White House officials outlined a series of sweeping immigration executive actions Monday that include declaring a national emergency at the US southern border and kicking off the process to end birthright citizenship, which is expected to tee up a legal fight.

Incoming White House officials outlined a series of sweeping immigration executive actions Monday that include declaring a national emergency at the US southern border and kicking off the process to end birthright citizenship, which is expected to tee up a legal fight. The executive actions are the culmination of multiple campaign pledges and the resurfacing of policy ideas that didn’t come to fruition during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term. Trump aides have signaled that they will be followed within days by a series of immigration enforcement sweeps targeting criminals, though they haven’t ruled out that others could be apprehended, too. Monday’s executive actions, which Trump officials previewed but haven’t yet shared the actual text, include: • Declaring a national emergency at the US southern border that would trigger deploying additional Pentagon resources and deployment of armed forces to finish the border wall, among other efforts. It is only focused on southern border security. “We will have the military at the southern border, but there are other elements of the United States government that will be working throughout the country,” an incoming White House official said. • Ending birthright citizenship, an issue that would need to be addressed via constitutional amendment or via the courts. The action is focused on the phrase “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof in the 14th amendment to clarify that on a prospective basis, the federal government will not recognize automatic birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens born in the United States.”