Trump to Sign Executive Orders on Mexico Border Wall and Immigration

Trump appears to actually be keeping the worst of his campaign promises.

Trump swearing in staff
Image via Getty/Pool

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing in ceremony of White House senior staff in the East Room of the White House

Trump swearing in staff

On Tuesday night, reports started coming in that Donald Trump was actually going to start on one of his longest-held campaign promises: to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. It didn't take long before the man himself confirmed it—how else—on Twitter.

Okay, let's try that again:

Yes, that's right. Trump, using a Bush-era law called the Secure Fence Act, is directing money towards building a wall on the border. This already-extant funding is likely not going to be enough to finish the job, of course. It is all but certain that more funds from Congress will be needed, since government estimates have the wall costing $6.5 million per mile.

Trump spoke on the wall during an interview with ABC News Wednesday afternoon, claiming that construction would begin within months. Mexico, Trump also claimed, will "absolutely, 100 percent" pay us back for the wall's construction.

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Building a wall was a central part of Trump's campaign, and the promise to do so was a go-to applause line at his rallies. But it wasn't the only xenophobic plank. 

Trump also campaigned on a Muslim ban, which drew enough outrage that he later amended his plan, calling for "extreme vetting." He is expected this week to begin to implement that, possibly by temporarily stopping admissions of refugees from many majority-Muslim countries.  He is also expected to drastically cut the overall amount of refugees allowed to settle in the country this year.

The Huffington Post obtained a draft of Trump's executive order Wednesday, showing that Trump is planning to "dramatically" restrict refugee admissions to the U.S. Though the order could change before Trump's signature is attached, the Post's sources said that the administration is considering, among other things, the suspension of "all refugee admissions" for 120 days. That suspension, sources said, is designed to give the administration time to determine "which countries pose the least risk."

Press Secretary Sean "Period" Spicer told reporters Wednesday that Trump intended to sign two executive orders related to "border security" and the aforementioned wall. "Yes, one way or another, as the President said before, Mexico will pay for it," Spicer said, though he did not specify whether or not this was an "alternative fact."

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