One of Donald Trump’s most controversial and impractical campaign promises is his “great wall’ that will span the southern border of the United States. The wall is meant to be a block on illegal immigrants and drugs making their way into the country, but the road to this point paints it more as a hasty campaign promise that Trump seems desperate to keep. The initial promise of the wall was that Mexico will pay for it, something met with heavy protests from the Mexican government. This soon changed after Trump was elected, with the wall morphing into a fence in some places and Mexico paying the US back after federal money is used to build the structure.
The entire thing now lies on the backs of taxpayers with the promise that Mexico will honor an I.O.U. If that concerns you, tomorrow’s latest batch of executive orders should grab your attention.
Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017
According to the New York Times, Trump will focus heavy on immigration with his Wednesday meetings and the wall will be in that group:
During an appearance at the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday, Mr. Trump plans to sign an executive order to direct federal funds to be shifted toward the building of a wall on the southern border that became a signature promise of his campaign. He has argued that doing so is vital to gaining control over the illegal flow of immigrants into the United States.
Trump will also focus on his immigration promises tomorrow, targeting sanctuary cities around the country and restricting immigration from certain countries according to the Washington Post:
The effort to crack down on what are known as sanctuary cities will resonate with the Republican base, which has long criticized local officials who refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Later this week, officials said, the president plans to sign other orders restricting immigration and access to the United States for refugees and some visa holders from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, although the exact timing was being arranged late Tuesday and was subject to change. Residents from many of these places are already rarely granted U.S. visas.
The president’s plans for Wednesday set the stage for a long fight to come with many who disagree with his proposals to this point. Even the rumor that an announcement of Trump’s proposed “Muslim ban” was on the way caused many to cry foul on Tuesday. If the president does indeed move forward with his campaign promises, you would expect the backlash from the public to be strong.
Some good news according to CNN, involves the promises to deport all illegal immigrants that were made by Trump during the campaign. Sean Spicer informed members of the press on Monday that “repealing President Barack Obama’s two immigration executive actions were not the President’s prime focus.” This isn’t the best news considering Obama deported more people than any president in history, but it does dampen the outrageous promises made by President Trump during his campaign.
(Via New York Times / Washington Post / CNN)