President Trump will sign a spate of directives Wednesday cracking down on illegal immigration and laying the groundwork for building his border wall, making initial headway on one of his most iconic promises from the presidential campaign.
Mr. Trump will visit the Homeland Security Department’s headquarters, and has invited at least two parents whose children were slain by illegal immigrants to Washington, signaling that cracking down on sanctuary cities could also be on the list of actions.
And he’s expected to take the first steps on tightening migration from countries with terrorism problems.
“Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!” Mr. Trump said, teasing his plans on Twitter Tuesday night.
One of Mr. Trump’s more controversial plans, to nix President Obama’s 2012 deportation amnesty for Dreamers, seems to have slid off the list of actions planned for the day.
Jessica Vaughan, policy studies director at the Center for Immigration Studies, said Steve Ronnebeck and MaryAnn Mendoza, parents of children slain by illegal immigrants, have been invited to attend Mr. Trump’s moves.
Mr. Trump was the first major national politician to highlight the stories of victims of illegal immigrant crime, bringing family members on the campaign trail with him, giving them prime spots at the GOP convention, and even attending their conference in Texas last year, during the height of the campaign.
Immigrant-rights activists are already rallying against Mr. Trump’s moves — with the restrictions on migrants from terror-connected countries drawing the most fire.
“These [executive orders] will not make our nation safer, rather they will make it more fearful and less welcoming,” Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said on Twitter.
He also questioned whether Mr. Trump’s moves were legal.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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