WASHINGTON: US President Donald J. Trump signed two executive orders on Wednesday that he said were designed to strengthen internal security.

One of the orders authorises the construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border and the other strips funding for US cities that don’t arrest or detain immigrants living illegally.

To jump-start the construction, Mr Trump signed the orders at a ceremony at the Department of Home­land Security in Washington after the oath-taking of the department’s newly confirmed secretary, retired Gen John Kelly.

Mr Trump signed the wall executive order first and displayed it with his signature. Then he signed the second order, on internal security.

Before the signing ceremony, Vice President Mike Pence administered the oath of office to Mr Kelly.

Iran, Iraq among seven countries that may be affected

The Trump administration is also restoring the Secure Communities Progra­mme, which expired in 2014. Used by both the Bush and Obama administrations, it forces state and local governments to share fingerprints and other data to help federal officials identify undocumented immigrants. The programme was widely criticised for sometimes resulting in cases of mistaken detention of US citizens.

The executive actions will force other countries as well to take back criminal aliens by using leverage such as withholding US visas. And it would allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement to more aggressively arrest, detain and remove people from the US.

The new president is also expected to single out for visa restrictions seven Muslim countries in executive orders. The new restrictions would apply to some visa holders from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, said officials of the Trump administration while briefing the media.

Mr Trump tweeted that Wednesday would be remembered as a “big day (for) national security” because of the changes he was announcing.

“Among many other things, we will build the wall,” he tweeted while referring to the wall he plans to build on the US border with Mexico to stop illegal immigrants from entering the United States.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a US-based Muslim civil rights group, said the new restrictions were the first step towards the realisation of the promise Mr Trump made as a candidate: “a complete ban on Muslims entering the United States”.

“Such executive orders and laws will not improve our nation’s safety and security; rather it will reinforce fear, hate, and division within our country,” said CAIR San Diego Executive Director Hanif Mohebi.

White House aides told the media that Mr Trump was also meeting parents of children who were killed in terrorist attacks by illegal immigrants to highlight his stance. The order paves the way for aggressive interior enforcement of anti-immigration provisions and creates an advocacy office for victims of crimes committed by those in the country illegally.

Published in Dawn January 26th, 2017