President Trump instructed the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday to begin enforcing immigration laws already on the books, shortly after signing executive orders that paved the way for construction of a border wall.
“One of the most important missions of DHS is its law enforcement mission,” Trump said. “This is a law enforcement agency. But for too long, your officers and agents haven’t been allowed to properly do their jobs.”
“But that’s all about to change, and I’m very happy about it and you’re very happy about it,” Trump added. “From here on out, I’m asking all of you to enforce the laws of the United States of America. They will be enforced and enforced strongly.”
The president said such strong enforcement would not require newer, stricter laws.
“We will work within the existing system and framework,” Trump said.
Trump’s message was a rebuke to the Obama administration, which called for the selective enforcement of immigration laws in a way that drew Republican opposition for the last several years.
Echoing his campaign pledge to strengthen security at the U.S. border, Trump said his executive orders would “save thousands of lives” and protect American jobs.
“A nation without borders is not a nation,” Trump said.
Trump’s executive orders, which he signed at the Department of Homeland Security headquarters earlier Wednesday, included one that required “sanctuary cities,” or areas that knowingly avoid immigration enforcement, to begin adhering to immigration laws. He signed an order instructing his attorney general to “ensure that jurisdictions that willfully refuse to comply with” immigration laws “are not eligible to receive federal grants.”
Another order required the Department of Homeland Security to commence “the immediate construction of a physical wall on the southern border.”
