Donald Trump is creating a “Fortress America” by deploying thousands of troops to the southern border, enhancing the existing wall, and implementing stricter deportation policies to secure the boundary.
At the beginning of his second Presidential term, the new Commander in Chief wasted no time and swiftly signed a series of executive orders aimed at revamping the United States’ struggling immigration system.
Trump’s first step was to sign a directive declaring a national emergency against the “invasion” of “illegal aliens” at the US-Mexico border.
Under these executive orders, refugee flights coming into the country were canceled, troops were sent out, federal agencies were granted the power to detain individuals, and the scope for quick deportations was expanded.
He also signed an order to end birthright citizenship – when a person born on US soil is given American citizenship.
And the Biden-era Customs and Border Protection app that helped migrants apply to legally enter the US by seeking asylum was immediately shut down.
A White House fact sheet said US states like Texas had asked Biden’s government for “protection against invasion” but were let down.
Trump in 2024 vowed to “seal the border on Day 1” and make it a top priority after he took over – making good on his promises within hours of Monday’s Inauguration.
Security expert Professor Anthony Glees told The Sun that he is clamping down on illegal immigration to eliminate any threats to the new-era “Fortress America”.
He said: “Fortress America is to be a place where American power is used to keep America safe from outside.
“The very hard line he’s taken on immigration… that has merit to it.
“For those people who are unlawfully in the United States of America, they must expect to be sent back to where they came from, because the rule of law.”
SENDING TROOPS
Trump told government agencies to gear up to “immediately repel, repatriate, and remove” undocumented immigrants after taking office on Monday.
All refugee processing was cancelled within hours, quickly halting movement across the border.
And White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that 1,500 extra troops have been dispatched to the border already.
There are already some 2,500 personnel there under federal orders.
Trump’s advisors are even considering sending as many as 10,000 soldiers in the coming months.
An internal government memo seen by CBS News reveals how the Department of Defense is considering using their bases to hold migrants awaiting deportation.
And pictures showed members of the Mexican Army setting up makeshift camps near the border to host the migrants left stranded by Trump’s new policies.
His administration has reportedly submitted an “[u]nrestrained request” for extra troops and Pentagon resources to help Customs and Border Protection manage the border.
RAPID DEPORTATIONS
By Wednesday, less than two days after Trump settled back into the Oval Office, the pool of undocumented immigrants eligible for a rapid deportation was widened.
The fast-track process, known as “expedited removal”, happens when authorities can deport someone without a hearing in front of an immigration judge.
This was one of Trump’s key immigration policies from his first term.
And officials were able to ramp up rapid deportations – by including undocumented immigrants in the US who can’t prove they’ve lived there for two years or more.
He also brought back the “Remain in Mexico” program – requiring migrants to stay there while they go through immigration proceedings to move to the US.
GIANT BUOYS
Texas, which shares a huge section of the southern US border with Mexico, has previously used large buoys along the Rio Grande to stop migrants from crossing illegally.
This week officials dispatched more of the giant devices along the stretch.
They have mostly been dotted along Eagle Pass, an area of Texas with a stretch of the Rio Grande river that separates it from Peidras Negras in Mexico.
Pictures show the massive orange balls chained along the water – designed to make it harder for anyone trying to cross through the water.
They reportedly have netting underneath and sometimes blades between the floats.
The Texas governor wrote on social media: “I look forward to continuing to work closely with President Trump to secure the border.
“AMERICA IS BACK!”
Biden’s government sued Texas in 2023 to get the floating barriers removed – claiming they violated federal law.
The move was eventually overturned by an appeals court who sided with Texas.
TikTok, gender debate & JFK truth – the rest of Trump’s to-do list
BY Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
JFK ASSASSINATION
Trump promised to uncover a slew of classified documents on the assassinations of President John F Kennedy, Senator Robert Kennedy and Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King.
During his first term Trump did release some documents related to the fatal shooting of JFK in Dallas, Texas, 1963.
King and Robert Kennedy were both assassinated in 1968.
“In the coming days, we are going to make public remaining records related to the assassinations of President John F Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, as well as Dr Martin Luther King Jr and other topics of great public interest,” he said the day before his Inauguration.
Trump has not specified what kind of documents he hopes to release, but the JFK assassination in particular has been a long-term source of debate in the US.
A widespread conspiracy theory has suggested the involvement of the federal government or CIA in orchestrating and covering up his death.
TIKTOK BAN
Trump has hit repeatedly hit out at the plans to ban TikTok in the US – a wildly popular social media app with some 170million American users.
After national security concerns tied to its Chinese ownership, the app was briefly shut down across the country.
But mere hours after Trump promised to reinstate it after taking office, American users were able to get back online.
The app “welcomed back” American yesterday, lauding Trump as the reason for its return even before his official return to the Oval Office.
He then extended a 90-day period to keep it running.
GENDER DEBATE
Trump has previously vowed to reinstate a ban on transgender military service – something he brought in during his first term which Biden later axed.
He said at a rally in December: “With the stroke of my pen, on day one, we’re going to stop the transgender lunacy.”
He is also expected to ban transgender women from competing in women’s sports, saying: “And I will sign executive orders to end child sexual mutilation, get transgender out of the military and out of our elementary schools and middle schools and high school.
“And we will keep men out of women’s sports. And that will likewise be done on Day One.”
CLIMATE CRUNCH
Trump has also promised to look at cost of living efforts and visit Los Angeles in the wake of recent devastating wildfires.
And he is expected to overturn President Biden’s climate policies – including on the regulation of pollution or green job efforts.
It could also stretch to a ban on new wind projects or electric vehicle mandates.
He has already pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement – just as he did in 2017, before Biden rejoined in 2021.
TRUMP’S WALL
While speaking to crowds after his Inauguration ceremony, Trump promised to continue building his infamous southern border wall.
The President talked about its inception, and its future during his second term.
At one point he said: “I wanted that sucker to go up 50, 60 feet, nice Y-shape. Beautiful. I love construction”.
But he revealed why the Y-shape wasn’t possible, explaining that a combination of hardened steel, reinforced concrete and anti-climb panels were needed to stop people from scaling it.
“It wasn’t pretty, but it worked,” he declared.
“Sometimes you sacrifice beauty for efficiency.”
During his first term the wall stretched some 40 miles – with a secondary wall in areas going as far as 33 miles.
On Monday, Trump vowed: “The [Texas] governor will call me and say, ‘Sir, the wall is going up too fast!’ And I’ll say, ‘That’s what winning looks like.'”
DISSOLVING SANCTUARY CITIES
Sanctuary cities are regions where officials limit or deny cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
A city council or mayor would normally declare status as a sanctuary city and put in place policies that welcome and help illegal migrants.
One of Trump’s executive actions target them – telling federal officials to “ensure that so-called ‘sanctuary’ jurisdictions, which seek to interfere with the lawful exercise of Federal law enforcement operations, do not receive access to Federal funds”.
On Wednesday Huntington Beach, an area of Los Angeles, voted unanimously to declare itself a “non-sanctuary city”.
The City council moved to align their immigration stance with “the federal government, the Trump Administration, and Border Czar Tom Homan’s work”.
The Department of Homeland Security says sanctuary cities “do not honor U.S. Immigration and Customs (ICE) detainer requests to hold criminal aliens who are already in their custody”.
