Immigration crackdown, withdrawal from WHO and Paris Agreement among Trump’s first acts


US President Donald Trump on Monday began issuing a raft of expected executive orders on immigration, energy and other issues, moving swiftly on some of his campaign pledges mere hours after being sworn in for a second term.

Among the numerous orders on immigration, Trump is ending the Joe Biden administration’s “catch-and-release” policy that allowed migrants into the community while awaiting court hearings and reinstating the “remain-in-Mexico” policy that requires asylum seekers to live in northern Mexico during their US court proceedings.

Trump issued an order on Monday pulling the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement for the second time and is expected to declare an “energy emergency” to boost fossil fuels, dealing blows to the effort to keep global temperatures from rising.

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Cracking down on illegal migration and “climate extremism” while championing an “America-first” stance were cornerstones of Trump’s presidential election campaign.

Trump said on Sunday that he plans to issue “close to 100” executive orders within hours of taking office. Here is a closer look at some of them.

Immigration

Trump declared a “national emergency” on the US-Mexican border, which would unlock Defence Department funding and assets to support his promised mass deportation of undocumented migrants.

The US armed forces, including the National Guard, are expected to be deployed to the border to help law enforcement personnel there.

While troops will not take part in arrests, they will be expected to carry out “non-enforcement duties” like helping to build border infrastructure.

Trump wants to undo several Biden administration policies including “catch-and-release” and allowing those who cross the southern border without proper documentation to apply for asylum.

He will bring back some policies from his first administration, including “remain-in-Mexico”, and suspending America’s refugee resettlement programme, prompted by concerns about strained resources in local US communities.

On Monday, the Trump administration shut down an app that allowed migrants to schedule appointments to enter at legal ports of entry.

Reuters reported on Monday that nearly 1,660 Afghans cleared by the US government to resettle in the US were having their flights cancelled.

Raids to detain those living without permission in the US are expected to begin this week.

Migrants walk in a caravan bound for the northern border with the US, in Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico. Photo: Reuters

Tom Homan, Trump’s “border tsar”, has said criminals and gang members will be prioritised in the raids.

Trump and other Republicans during the presidential campaign portrayed migrants as dangerous, though the vast majority commit no crime.

According to the White House on Monday, Trump is expected to direct the Justice Department to seek the death penalty for “heinous crimes against humanity”, including “illegal migrants who maim and murder Americans”.

US non-profits put the overall undocumented population at 11 to 13 million. But many counted in that figure can qualify for or are in the legal process of obtaining permanent residence status, including through asylum.

Deportations are not expected to increase rapidly right away, according to Stephen Yale-Loehr, a Cornell University law professor.

“If a person already has an outstanding order of deportation, they can be deported immediately. But that is a relatively small number,” said Yale-Loehr.

“Most people picked up will be put into deportation proceedings,” he added, noting that the immigration courts already have a “backlog of over 3.8 million cases”.

Deportation efforts also typically require the cooperation of US states and other countries.

Last year, Washington and Beijing cooperated on at least four chartered deportation flights carrying 475 Chinese citizens, after the US saw an unprecedented surge of more than 60,000 Chinese crossing its southern border between January 2023 and November 2024. A fifth chartered deportation flight took place on January 6.

But the US has long branded China a “recalcitrant” country in repatriating its citizens and it is unclear whether cooperation would continue under the new Trump administration.

Climate and energy

Trump on Monday signed an order withdrawing the US from the nearly 200-nation Paris Agreement, a process that will take a year from the date his administration formally notifies the United Nations climate body.

While the US can still take part in annual climate negotiations, it will do so with less influence than before.

The landmark 2015 agreement aims to keep the global temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The US ratified the agreement in 2016, and less than a year later, Trump announced his intention to remove the country from the pact. Under Biden, the US rejoined it in 2021.

Trump declared an “energy emergency” and moved to reverse some of Biden’s clean-energy policies.

“Trump’s energy policies will end leasing to massive wind farms that degrade our natural landscapes and fail to serve American energy consumers,” the White House said on Monday.

Trump also directed federal agencies to end what he called an “electric vehicle mandate”.

A climate change sceptic, Trump has long vowed he would repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden’s signature programme pumping billions of dollars into domestic clean-energy industries, including offering a US$7,500 credit for EV purchases.

Trump’s U-turn of Biden’s policy is anticipated to further complicate the US clean-energy race with China, which Beijing leads.

The Biden administration had criticised China for a manufacturing “overcapacity” in its clean-energy products, leading it to raise tariffs on mainland EVs and solar panels.

Trump also during his campaign threatened to increase tariffs on EVs, saying an influx of Chinese imports would cause a “bloodbath” in the US auto industry.

US President Donald Trump signs numerous executive orders in the Oval Office. Photo: EPA-EFE

Trade

Trump did not immediately slap new duties on Canada, Mexico and China as he vowed during his campaign. Instead, he said he expected to impose as much as 25 per cent tariffs on Mexico and Canada by February 1, but did not mention a date for China.

Trump has pledged to implement an additional 60 per cent or more on Chinese goods. However on Monday, he said there would be more discussions with China’s President Xi Jinping.

“We’re going to have meetings and calls with President Xi,” Trump said.

TikTok

Trump signed an executive order delaying by 75 days the enforcement of a ban of popular short-video app TikTok that was slated to be shuttered on January 19.

The order opens the door for further negotiations with ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, in the hopes of finding a resolution that satisfies US national security requirements.

“I guess I have a warm spot for TikTok that I didn’t have originally, but I went on TikTok and I won young people,” Trump said as he signed the order, crediting the app for delivering him the youth vote in his election.

WHO withdrawal

Trump ordered the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO). He signed the order in the White House in Washington just hours after his inauguration on Monday.

“We’re being ripped off by the World Health,” he told reporters.

“Everybody rips off the United States and that’s it, it’s not going to happen any more.”

According to the WHO, the US is the top donor and partner to the organisation.

The US contributed US$1.284 billion during the 2022–2023 biennium, the WHO said.

In 2020, Trump ordered the US withdrawal from the WHO, accusing the organisation of failing in the coronavirus pandemic and being a puppet of China. Biden used his first day in office in 2021 to halt that withdrawal.

Pardons

The first executive order Trump signed in the Oval Office was the full pardon of about 1,500 people for their role in the siege of the US Capitol. It also commuted the sentences of 14 people.

“This is a big one,” Trump said as he signed the order, adding that he hoped those held in prison would be released immediately.

On January 6, 2021, supporters of Trump violently stormed the US Congressional seat in Washington, where the Republican’s election defeat to Biden was to be certified at the time.

A crowd incited by Trump, who held a rally to promote baseless claims of election fraud, violently entered the building, killing five people.

Workforce

Trump signed orders freezing government hiring and new federal regulations, as well as an order requiring federal workers to immediately return to full-time in-person work.

“I will implement an immediate regulation freeze, which will stop Biden bureaucrats from continuing to regulate,” Trump said, adding he will also “issue a temporary hiring freeze to ensure that we’re only hiring competent people who are faithful to the American public”.

Additional reporting by dpa, Reuters and Agence France-Presse

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