US President Donald Trump began his second term with a bang by signing a slew of sweeping executive orders. The orders ranged from ending birthright citizenship to withdrawing the US from WHO and Paris Climate Accord. Within a span of two hours, he signed more than a hundred executive orders, each of them surprising. The rest of the world is studying the implications of his orders. Soon after Trump reached his Oval Office, the US National Guards was deployed on Mexican border to stop illegal immigration.
Trump has said that the largest deportation program in US history would begin, and illegal infiltrators would be sent back to their countries of origin. According to Bloomberg, the Trump administration has prepared a list of nearly 18,000 Indians to be deported in the first phase.
Trump signed an order declaring that granting of automatic US citizenship to children born on American soil will be discontinued. Future children born to undocumented immigrants would no longer be treated as citizens. The order would extend even to the children of mothers staying in the US legally but temporarily, such as foreign students or tourists.
Several US lawmakers of Indian American origin have decided to challenge this order. “Trump’s order removes birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. not just to undocumented parents but to ‘lawful’ immigrants who are temporarily on a student visa, H1B/H2B visa, or business visa”, said US Congressman Ro Khanna.
Trump signed orders directing resumption of oil and natural gas production in Alaska, imposing 25 pc tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting February 1, renaming Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of America, declaring national emergency on Mexican border, halting federal government hiring except for military, declaring that the federal government shall recognize only two biological sex, male and female, rolling back transgender protections, pardoned 1,500 persons convicted or charged in the attack on US Capitol on Jan 6, 2021, and keeping TikTok operating for 75 days.
Immediately after Trump signed the orders, border immigration and customs check posts near Mexican border stopped working and the National Guards took up positions on the border. Thousands of people waiting for entry into the US were stranded, despite having prior appointments with US Immigration authorities. The CBP One app that helped in appointments and checking of documents, stopped working.
Donald Trump has shown that he is going to implement all his electoral promises. No other US President in the past had signed more than 100 executive orders on the first day in office. What Trump has done is unprecedented.
I watched Trump speaking at his inauguration ceremony on Monday night. The tenor of his speech clearly indicated that he is out to create ripples across the world. The manner in which he criticized the outgoing administration, with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris sitting and watching, was surprising. As Trump was lambasting the outgoing administration for, what he said, “a horrible betrayal” and for running “a radical and corrupt establishment”, the faces of Barack Obama and Bill Clinton were worth watching.
For Trump, deporting more than a crore illegal immigrants will be a Herculean task. This has been America’s problem for the last several years, but no US President summoned the courage and tenacity to throw them out. To identify a crore illegal immigrants and deport them is a challenging one. But, when Trump makes up his mind, he does not mind and nothing can stop him.
The other significant steps that Trump took related to trade, commerce and business. Trump administration’s decision will have implications for most of the countries of the world. China may have to bear the major brunt. Trump has eyed all those business sectors which are presently under Chinese dominance. During his campaign, Trump had promised to regain America’s past glory in business and end China’s dominance. He has already started working from Day One.
India will have to be recast its strategy for dealing with Trump’s new immigration and trade policies. India is today one of the fastest growing economies of the world. Each trade related decision by the US can affect Indian industry. The implications will be known as the picture becomes clearer.