By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Immigration and Nationality Act…, the Secure Fence Act of 2006…, and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996…, and in order to ensure the safety and territorial integrity of the United States as well as to ensure that the Nation's immigration laws are faithfully executed, I hereby order as follows:

 

Section 1.  Purpose.  Border security is critically important to the national security of the United States.  Aliens who illegally enter the United States without inspection or admission present a significant threat to national security and public safety.  Such aliens have not been identified or inspected by Federal immigration officers to determine their admissibility to the United States.  The recent surge of illegal immigration at the southern border with Mexico has placed a significant strain on Federal resources and overwhelmed agencies charged with border security and immigration enforcement, as well as the local communities into which many of the aliens are placed.

Transnational criminal organizations operate sophisticated drug- and human-trafficking networks and smuggling operations on both sides of the southern border, contributing to a significant increase in violent crime and United States deaths from dangerous drugs.  Among those who illegally enter are those who seek to harm Americans through acts of terror or criminal conduct.  Continued illegal immigration presents a clear and present danger to the interests of the United States.

Federal immigration law both imposes the responsibility and provides the means for the Federal Government, in cooperation with border States, to secure the Nation's southern border.  Although Federal immigration law provides a robust framework for Federal-State partnership in enforcing our immigration laws - and the Congress has authorized and provided appropriations to secure our borders - the Federal Government has failed to discharge this basic sovereign responsibility.  The purpose of this order is to direct … agencies to deploy all lawful means to secure the Nation's southern border, to prevent further illegal immigration into the United States, and to repatriate illegal aliens swiftly, consistently, and humanely.

 

Sec. 2.  Policy.  It is the policy of the executive branch to:

(a)  secure the southern border of the United States through the immediate construction of a physical wall on the southern border, monitored and supported by adequate personnel so as to prevent illegal immigration, drug and human trafficking, and acts of terrorism;

(b)  detain individuals apprehended on suspicion of violating Federal or State law, including Federal immigration law, pending further proceedings regarding those violations;

(c)  expedite determinations of apprehended individuals' claims of eligibility to remain in the United States;

(d)  remove promptly those individuals whose legal claims to remain in the United States have been lawfully rejected, after any appropriate civil or criminal sanctions have been imposed; 

(e)  cooperate fully with States and local law enforcement in enacting Federal-State partnerships to enforce Federal immigration priorities, as well as State monitoring and detention programs that are consistent with Federal law and do not undermine Federal immigration priorities.

 

Sec. 3.  Definitions…

(e)  "Wall" shall mean a contiguous, physical wall or other similarly secure, contiguous, and impassable physical barrier.

 

Sec. 4.  Physical Security of the Southern Border of the United States.  The Secretary shall immediately take the following steps to obtain complete operational control, as determined by the Secretary, of the southern border:

(a)  In accordance with existing law.. take all appropriate steps to immediately plan, design, and construct a physical wall along the southern border, using appropriate materials and technology to most effectively achieve complete operational control of the southern border;

(b)  Identify and… allocate all sources of Federal funds for the planning, designing, and constructing of a physical wall along the southern border;

…

(d)  Produce a comprehensive study of the security of the southern border, … that shall include the current state of southern border security, all geophysical and topographical aspects of the southern border, the availability of … resources necessary to achieve complete operational control of the southern border, and a strategy to obtain and maintain complete operational control of the southern border.

 

Sec. 5.  Detention Facilities. 

The (Secretary/Attorney General) shall take all appropriate action and allocate all legally available resources to immediately:

(a)  construct, operate, control, or establish contracts to construct, operate, or control facilities to detain aliens at or near the land border with Mexico.

(b)  asylum officers to immigration detention facilities for the purpose of accepting asylum referrals and conducting credible fear determinations ….

(c)  assign immigration judges to immigration detention facilities operated or controlled by the Secretary, or operated or controlled pursuant to contract by the Secretary, for the purpose of conducting proceedings…

.

Sec. 6.  Detention for Illegal Entry. 

The Secretary shall immediately take all appropriate actions to ensure the detention of aliens apprehended for violations of immigration law pending the outcome of their removal proceedings or their removal from the country to the extent permitted by law.  The Secretary shall issue new policy guidance to all DHS personnel regarding the appropriate and consistent use of lawful detention authority under the INA, including the termination of the practice commonly known as "catch and release," whereby aliens are routinely released in the United States shortly after their apprehension for violations of immigration law.

 

Sec. 7.  Return to Territory. 

The Secretary shall take appropriate action, … to ensure that aliens…are returned to the territory from which they came pending a formal removal proceeding.

 

Sec. 8.  Additional Border Patrol Agents. 

…the Secretary… shall take all appropriate action to hire 5,000 additional Border Patrol agents, and… to ensure that such agents enter on duty and are assigned to duty stations as soon as is practicable.

 

Sec. 9.  Foreign Aid Reporting Requirements. 

The head of each executive department and agency shall identify and quantify all sources of direct and indirect Federal aid or assistance to the Government of Mexico on an annual basis over the past five years, including all bilateral and multilateral development aid, economic assistance, humanitarian aid, and military aid. …

.

Sec. 10.  Federal-State Agreements. 

It is the policy of the executive branch to empower State and local law enforcement agencies across the country to perform the functions of an immigration officer in the interior of the United States to the maximum extent permitted by law.

(a)  … the Secretary shall immediately take appropriate action to engage with the Governors of the States, as well as local officials, for the purpose of preparing to enter into agreements …

(b)  To the extent permitted by law, and with the consent of State or local officials, as appropriate, the Secretary shall… authorize State and local law enforcement officials… to perform the functions of immigration officers in relation to the investigation, apprehension, or detention of aliens in the United States….  Such authorization shall be in addition to, rather than in place of, Federal performance of these duties….

 

Sec. 11.  Parole, Asylum, and Removal. 

It is the policy of the executive branch to end the abuse of parole and asylum provisions currently used to prevent the lawful removal of removable aliens.

(a)  The Secretary shall immediately take all appropriate action to ensure that the parole and asylum provisions of Federal immigration law are not illegally exploited to prevent the removal of otherwise removable aliens.

(b)  …ensure that asylum referrals and credible fear determinations …, and reasonable fear determinations … are conducted in a manner consistent with the plain language of those provisions.

(c)  ... apply, in his sole and unreviewable discretion, the provisions … of the INA to the aliens…

(d)  … ensure that parole authority … is exercised only on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the plain language of the statute, and in all circumstances only when an individual demonstrates urgent humanitarian reasons or a significant public benefit derived from such parole.

(e)  …require that all DHS personnel are properly trained on the proper application … of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act …, to ensure that unaccompanied alien children are properly processed, receive appropriate care and placement while in the custody of the DHS, and, when appropriate, are safely repatriated in accordance with law.

 

Sec. 12.  Authorization to Enter Federal Lands. 

The Secretary, in conjunction with the Secretary of the Interior and any other heads of agencies as necessary, shall take all appropriate action to:

(a)  permit all officers and employees of the United States, as well as all State and local officers… to have access to all Federal lands … to implement this order; and

(b)  enable (them) to perform such actions on Federal lands as the Secretary deems necessary and appropriate to implement this order.

 

Sec. 13.  Priority Enforcement. 

The Attorney General shall take all appropriate steps to establish prosecution guidelines and allocate appropriate resources to ensure that Federal prosecutors accord a high priority to prosecutions of offenses having a nexus to the southern border.

 

Sec. 14.  Government Transparency. 

The Secretary shall… report statistical data on aliens apprehended at or near the southern border using a uniform method of reporting… in a format that is easily understandable by the public.

 

…

 

DONALD J. TRUMP

​

THE WHITE HOUSE,

​

    January 25, 2017.