US President takes executive action on immigration

Global Business

President Trump has signed two executive orders on immigration, moving ahead with his campaign promise to build a wall on the border with Mexico and to stem illegal immigration to the U.S.

CGTN’s Jessica Stone reports.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump turned from jobs to immigration policy.

He signed two executive orders to build a wall on the Southern border and to beef up internal security. The orders call for adding 5,000 border patrol agents, 10,000 immigration officers, and more detention space. The president has also signaled he’ll use diplomatic leverage to force countries to take back their citizens who try to emigrate illegally.

But the president’s orders come without funding. And one leading consultant group estimates building a physical border wall would cost at least $15 billion to possibly $25 billion.

President Trump still maintains the government of Mexico will pay for the wall, as he reiterated in his sit-down interview with the U.S. television network.

According to the Border Patrol Union, only about 400 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border lacks a fence or a natural barrier. That has some in Trump’s own party calling on him to use technology, rather than cement – to save taxpayers money. Senator John McCain’s state of Arizona borders Mexico.

Yet to come — President Trump’s promise to issue a Muslim ban and implement an extreme vetting program for some refugees. We’re told that announcement will be made later this week.


Trump’s immigration policy reshapes US-Mexico relations

A top Mexican government official said Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is considering cancelling his meeting with President Donald Trump, in response to today’s executive order on wall construction along the U.S.-Mexican border.

The news came on day one of talks between Mexican officials and their U.S. counterparts at the White House.

CGTN’s Martin Markovits reports.

On the agenda of the North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexico’s Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said that his country could pull out of NATFA if the Trump administration negotiates terms that are extremely unfair to Mexico.

Meanwhile, Mexicans reacted to the U.S. announcement on Twitter calling it, ” an offense to Mexico.”

More than $1.4 billion in goods pass through the U.S.- Mexico border every day. The 23-year-old free trade zone has transformed Mexico’s manufacturing sector into an indispensable part of its economy. If NAFTA does collapse, Mexico would have to make a big change in its trade policy and rely less on the U.S., its biggest trading partner.

President Trump recently said that wall could be funded from the estimated $24 billion in remittances that Mexicans living the U.S. send back home. A source of money for Mexico that is even bigger than the county’s oil revenue. But Mexico has been firm in rejecting that plan and has vowed never pay for that wall.


Wardah Khalid discusses Trumps’ immigration policy

To have a detailed look at Trump’s immigration policy in the wake of two executive orders set to change them, CGTN’s Mike Walter spoke with Wardah Khalid, Middle East policy analyst and media associate for Church World Service.