Tuesday, February 4, 2025
Year : 2, Issue: 23/strong>
ABC7 News: President Donald Trump wasn’t shy about his immigration plans throughout his presidential campaign and that issue has created the biggest policy changes in the first two weeks of the new Trump administration.
The president immediately signed at least 10 immigration orders and actions that fulfill his campaign promises of mass deportations and increased border security.
Some of those actions have already led to changes, some face legal action and some may take weeks or years to take shape — but virtually all of those actions have sparked fear among immigrant communities.
On Monday, as part of a deal to delay stiff new tariffs, Mexico’s president agreed to deploy 10,000 additional troops to the border to help — in part — stop the flow of migrants.
It’s just the latest example of how immigration remains right at the top of Trump’s agenda.
Later in the afternoon, Defense Secretary Pet Hegseth made his first visit to the U.S.-Mexico border as Trump has vowed to stop migrants from crossing into the United States.
Another member of the administration, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, was in New York last week to go along on an ICE raid.
It was one of many across the nation since Trump took office. In the final six days of the month, 5,843 people were arrested, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
That is an average of 973 per day.
The Trump administration insists that they are focusing on violent criminals in their roundups, but a DEA agent told ABC News that it’s possible others could be swept up in the operations.
In addition to the raids, military planes are now being used to deport undocumented workers and Marines have been deployed to Guantanamo Bay where a migrant detention center will be opened.
Trump is also looking to change a number of long-standing immigration policies. He wants to deny U.S. citizenship to American-born children of parents living in the country illegally.
He signed the Laken Riley Act into law which gives authorities more power to deport undocumented immigrants accused of non-violent crimes.
He also ended a long-standing policy of limiting migrant arrests in sensitive locations like schools or churches.
In New York, Mayor Eric Adams has defended the ICE raids on criminals while promising to defend immigrants in the five boroughs — but some in the City Council believe more should be done.Councilwoman Alexa Aviles.
In New York, the NYPD has said it would not assist in civil enforcement of immigration laws, but it will assist federal authorities in the arrests of violent criminals.
