President-elect Donald Trump's team is ironing out a wide slate of aggressive executive orders on immigration that could be released just hours after he is sworn into office Monday, sources familiar with the planning are saying.
"You'll see removal planes, reports of arrests occurring, ICE action in sanctuary jurisdictions," one of the sources told CNN, the network reported Friday. "As you get into 30 days and first 100 days, that's where you'll see a consistent drumbeat."
The plans include Immigration and Customs Enforcement carrying out sweeps in the nation's major cities, rolling back President Joe Biden-era policies, sending more resources from the Pentagon to the U.S.-Mexico border, and placing more restrictions on who can enter the country legally.
Initially, the administration will focus on undocumented immigrants who have criminal backgrounds and are located in major metropolitan areas such as Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Denver, but a source said other immigrants could be taken into custody if they are found during the sweeps.
"You cannot be a safe or secure country until the border is protected and defended," Stephen Miller, Trump's incoming deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser, said in an interview Thursday.
Miller, along with border czar Tom Homan and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Trump's nominee for homeland security secretary, will be the main players to carry out the incoming president's agenda on immigration. Noem's Senate confirmation hearings are being held on Friday.
Border crossings have dropped rapidly after Biden's executive order on asylum this past summer, but Trump's team plans to overhaul the U.S. immigration system while deporting scores of people who are in the United States illegally.
Some of Trump's moves are actions he took during his first term in office, while others, such as options to end birthright citizenship and reviewing the use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime authority allowing a president to detain or deport natives of an enemy nation, represent new endeavors for the president-elect.
Discussions are also underway for Trump to issue a proclamation suspending the ability of certain people to cross the southern border and to enact a travel ban.
Trump's team also plans to stop a humanitarian parole program that provides a legal pathway for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to come to the United States.
Meanwhile, the team is said to be hyper-focused on interior enforcement by spotlighting raids on immigrants in cities led by Democrats, sources said.
ICE has already been arresting immigrants under the Biden administration and deported 271,484 immigrants in the last fiscal year, the highest number since 2014, federal data shows.
Ramping up ICE's operations will hinge on Congress approving additional funding, however.
Homan has repeatedly criticized sanctuary cities, where much of the deportation action is expected to start.
But there will also be an emphasis on areas that cooperate with federal authorities through the 287(g) Program, which partners ICE with state and local law enforcement officials.
The administration will also need to focus on fencing space to detain undocumented immigrants, as well as bringing in more ICE agents to arrest them, which will also require shoring up federal funds.
Trump is also expected to attempt to reinstate 212(f), an order giving him authority to restrict border crossings. A federal appeals court ruled during his last administration that the authority is in conflict with asylum law.
He also plans to push for negotiations to restore his "Remain in Mexico" program, a rule requiring migrants to stay south of the border while going through immigration proceedings, rather than allowing them into the United States while the court process unwinds.
Trump's team is also planning for negotiations to relaunch asylum cooperative agreements that were initiated during his first term. The agreements state that immigrants who may have claims for asylum could be sent to other countries while making their cases.
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