Executive Order: Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements

Table of Contents

Section 1: Purpose

Border security is identified as a critical component of national security for the United States. Individuals who enter the country unlawfully, without inspection or admission, are considered a potential threat to national security and public safety. Such individuals have not undergone identification or inspection by federal immigration authorities to determine their admissibility.

A recent surge in illegal immigration at the southern border with Mexico has placed considerable strain on federal resources, overwhelming agencies responsible for border security and immigration enforcement. Local communities receiving these individuals have also faced significant challenges due to this influx.

Transnational criminal organizations are known to operate sophisticated drug and human trafficking networks along both sides of the southern border. These operations have contributed to rising violent crime rates and an increase in drug-related deaths in the United States. Among those who enter the country illegally are individuals who may seek to cause harm through acts of terrorism or other criminal activity. The continuation of illegal immigration is regarded as a pressing threat to the nation's interests.

Federal immigration law assigns the responsibility of border security to the federal government while providing mechanisms for collaboration with state authorities. Despite a legal framework that supports federal-state partnerships and congressional authorization for border security measures, the federal government has been deemed to have inadequately fulfilled this fundamental sovereign duty.

This executive order directs federal departments and agencies to utilize all lawful means to secure the nation's southern border, prevent further illegal immigration, and ensure the swift, consistent, and humane repatriation of individuals who enter the country unlawfully.

Section 2: Policy

The executive branch establishes the following policies regarding border security and immigration enforcement:

(a) The United States' southern border shall be secured by immediately constructing a physical wall. This wall will be continuously monitored and supported by adequate personnel to prevent illegal immigration, drug and human trafficking, and acts of terrorism.

(b) Individuals apprehended on suspicion of violating federal or state law, including federal immigration law, shall be detained pending further legal proceedings related to those violations.

(c) Determinations regarding the eligibility of apprehended individuals to remain in the United States shall be expedited to ensure timely legal resolutions.

(d) Individuals whose legal claims to remain in the United States have been lawfully denied shall be promptly removed after any applicable civil or criminal penalties have been imposed.

(e) Full cooperation with state and local law enforcement agencies shall be maintained to establish federal-state partnerships that support federal immigration priorities. State-level monitoring and detention programs shall be implemented consistent with federal law, ensuring they do not conflict with or undermine federal immigration enforcement efforts.

Section 3: Definitions

(a) "Asylum officer" refers to the definition provided in section 235(b)(1)(E) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)).

(b) "Southern border" refers to the contiguous land border between the United States and Mexico, including all official entry points.

(d) "The Secretary" refers to the Secretary of Homeland Security unless otherwise specified.

(e) "Wall" refers to a contiguous, physical structure or another similarly secure, continuous, and impassable barrier.

(f) "Executive department" is defined in section 101 of Title 5, United States Code.

(g) "Regulations" include all federal rules, regulations, and directives lawfully issued by federal agencies.

(h) "Operational control" refers to preventing all unlawful entries into the United States, including individuals engaged in terrorist activities, unauthorized immigrants, traffickers, narcotics, and other contraband.

Section 4: Physical Security of the Southern Border of the United States

The Secretary of Homeland Security is directed to take immediate action to achieve complete operational control of the southern border, as determined by the Secretary. The following steps shall be undertaken:

(a) By existing laws, including the Secure Fence Act and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), all necessary measures shall be taken to immediately plan, design, and construct a physical wall along the southern border. Appropriate materials and technology shall be utilized to establish and maintain operational control effectively.

(b) All federal funding sources shall be identified and allocated to the extent law permits to plan, design, and construct the physical wall.

(c) Long-term funding requirements for the wall shall be projected and developed, including preparing congressional budget requests for the current and upcoming fiscal years.

(d) A comprehensive study on the security of the southern border shall be conducted and completed within 180 days of this order. This study shall assess the current state of border security, geophysical and topographical factors affecting border control, the availability of federal and state resources necessary for securing the border, and a strategic plan to achieve and maintain complete operational control.

Section 5: Detention Facilities

(a) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall take all necessary actions and allocate all legally available resources to immediately construct, operate, control, or establish contracts for the construction, operation, or control of detention facilities at or near the land border with Mexico.

(b) Asylum officers shall be assigned to immigration detention facilities to accept asylum referrals and conduct credible fear determinations by section 235(b)(1) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)) and applicable regulations. Reasonable fear determinations shall also be conducted in compliance with existing rules.

(c) The Attorney General shall take all necessary actions and allocate all legally available resources to assign immigration judges to detention facilities operated or controlled by the Secretary of Homeland Security or facilities managed under contractual agreements with the Secretary. These judges shall conduct immigration proceedings as authorized under Title 8, Chapter 12, Subchapter II of the United States Code.

Section 6: Detention for Illegal Entry

The Secretary of Homeland Security is directed to take immediate and appropriate actions to ensure the detention of individuals apprehended for immigration law violations, pending the outcome of their removal proceedings or their removal from the United States, to the extent permitted by law.

The Secretary shall issue new policy guidance to all Department of Homeland Security personnel regarding the consistent and appropriate use of lawful detention authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). This guidance shall include the termination of the practice known as "catch and release," which has allowed individuals apprehended for immigration violations to be routinely released into the United States shortly after detention.

Section 7: Return to Territory

The Secretary of Homeland Security is instructed to take appropriate action, consistent with the requirements outlined in Section 1232 of Title 8, United States Code, to ensure that individuals described in Section 235(b)(2)(C) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(2)(C)) are returned to the territory from which they arrived while awaiting formal removal proceedings.

Section 8: Additional Border Patrol Agents

Subject to available appropriations, the Secretary of Homeland Security, through the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, shall take all necessary measures to hire 5,000 additional Border Patrol agents. These agents shall be assigned to duty stations and begin their duties as soon as practicable.

Section 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 provided to the Government of Mexico over the past five years. This assessment shall include all forms of bilateral and multilateral development aid, economic assistance, humanitarian aid, and military aid.

Within 30 days of this order, each executive department and agency shall submit this information to the Secretary of State. Within 60 days of this order, the Secretary of State shall provide the President with a consolidated report detailing the levels of aid and assistance provided annually over the past five years.

Section 10: Federal-State Agreements

The executive branch's policy is to authorize and support state and local law enforcement agencies in performing immigration enforcement functions within the interior of the United States to the fullest extent permitted by law.

(a) To implement this policy, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall immediately engage with state governors and local officials to facilitate agreements under Section 287(g) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1357(g)).

(b) Subject to legal limitations and with the consent of relevant state or local officials, the Secretary shall take appropriate action, through agreements under Section 287(g) of the INA or other legal mechanisms, to authorize state and local law enforcement officers to investigate, apprehend, and detain individuals in violation of U.S. immigration laws. These law enforcement officers shall perform their duties under the direction and supervision of the Secretary. This authorization shall supplement, rather than replace, federal immigration enforcement efforts.

(c) The Secretary of Homeland Security may structure each agreement under Section 287(g) of the INA in a manner that best supports the effective enforcement of federal immigration laws and enhances operational control over the border within each jurisdiction.

Section 11: Parole, Asylum, and Removal

The executive branch's policy prevents the misuse of parole and asylum provisions currently being used to delay or prevent the lawful removal of individuals subject to deportation.

(a) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall take immediate and appropriate action to ensure that the parole and asylum provisions of federal immigration law are not improperly exploited to obstruct the removal of individuals otherwise eligible for deportation.

(b) The Secretary shall implement all necessary actions, including the promulgation of appropriate regulations, to ensure that asylum referrals and credible fear determinations under section 235(b)(1) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)) and 8 CFR 208.30, as well as reasonable fear determinations under 8 CFR 208.31, are conducted strictly by the plain language of the governing provisions.

(c) Under section 235(b)(1)(A)(iii)(I) of the INA, the Secretary shall exercise sole and unreviewable discretion to apply the provisions of section 235(b)(1)(A)(i) and (ii) of the INA to individuals designated under section 235(b)(1)(A)(iii)(II).

(d) The Secretary shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the parole authority under section 212(d)(5) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)) is exercised strictly on a case-by-case basis, in full compliance with the statutory language, and only in situations where an individual demonstrates urgent humanitarian reasons or a significant public benefit.

(e) The Secretary shall ensure that all Department of Homeland Security personnel are adequately trained in the correct application of section 235 of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) and section 462(g)(2) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(g)(2)). This training will ensure that unaccompanied alien children are correctly processed, receive appropriate care and placement while in Department of Homeland Security custody, and, when applicable, are safely repatriated by the law.

Section 12: Authorization to Enter Federal Lands

The Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Secretary of the Interior and other relevant agency heads, shall take all necessary and appropriate actions to:

(a) Permit all federal officers and employees, as well as state and local law enforcement officers authorized by the Secretary, to access federal lands as needed to implement this order.

(b) Enable federal officers, employees, and state and local law enforcement officers authorized by the Secretary to act on federal lands as necessary to implement this order.

Section 13: Priority Enforcement

The Attorney General shall take all appropriate steps to establish prosecution guidelines and allocate necessary resources to ensure that federal prosecutors prioritize the prosecution of offenses related to illegal immigration and border security.

Section 14: Government Transparency

The Secretary of Homeland Security shall ensure that statistical data on individuals apprehended at or near the southern border is reported to the public monthly. This data shall be compiled using a uniform reporting method across all Department of Homeland Security components and presented easily.

Section 15: Reporting

Unless otherwise specified in this order:

The Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a report to the President within 90 days detailing progress on the directives contained in this order.
The Attorney General shall submit a similar report within 180 days.

Section 16: Hiring

The Office of Personnel Management shall take all appropriate measures necessary to facilitate the hiring of personnel required to implement the provisions of this order.

Section 17: General Provisions

(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to:

(i) Impair or otherwise affect the authority granted by law to any executive department or agency, or its leadership; or
(ii) Interfere with the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget regarding budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented by applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order does not create any enforceable legal rights or benefits, substantive or procedural, against the United States, its departments, agencies, officers, employees, or any other entity or individual.