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By:
BBC
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Translated by: Forca Jashari
- 21 January 2025 22:50
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Since the first day of his second term, US President Donald Trump has signed a series of executive orders ranging from immigration, climate to pardons.
The Republican has immediately begun using his new powers to sign executive orders and presidential memoranda on a host of his administration's policy priorities, writes "BBC".
Executive orders have the weight of law, but can be overturned by future presidents or the courts.
Some of those approved by Trump are even expected to face legal challenges.
Immigration
also
What is an executive order, which American presidents often use?
National emergency at the border
A national emergency has been declared at the southern border, due to a directive that Trump signed in the Oval Office.
He has also sought to end citizenship for children of illegal immigrants born in the US.
Trump has also signed an order suspending the US refugee resettlement program for four months, although the details remain unclear.
Automatic citizenship
The decision taken on Monday (US time) to deny citizenship to children of immigrants who are in the US illegally or on temporary visas has been among the most controversial.
The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution has long protected this right, so Trump's action was immediately challenged in Federal Court.
Border closure
Trump has ordered the military to "close the borders," citing the transportation of illegal drugs, human smuggling, and other crimes related to illegal border crossings.
Declaring drug gangs and cartels as "terrorist organizations"
The president has also designated drug cartels and international gangs as foreign terrorist organizations in another executive order. The Salvadoran immigrant gang MS-13 and the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua will be added to a list that includes al-Qaeda, the so-called Islamic State and Hamas.
Resumption of construction of defensive walls
As part of his national emergency directive on the southern border, Trump has instructed agency heads to restart efforts to “build additional physical barriers along the southern border.” The directive is not an executive order, and it remains unclear how the effort would be funded, which was a major obstacle for Trump during his first term.
When Trump was first elected president in 2016, he signed an executive order to build a border wall. Although some sections of the barrier were built, most remained unfinished.
“Stay in Mexico”
Trump has also signed a re-enforcement of an order, the policy known as “Remain in Mexico.” This measure, also used in his first term, sent back across the border about 70 non-Mexican asylum seekers who were awaiting hearings.
Immigration policy
Through the same order, Trump has also closed a large Biden-era immigration center, an initiative that allowed and helped about 30 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela travel to the US.
This policy, known as CHNV, was designed to reduce the number of illegal border crossings, according to the Biden administration.
The death penalty
The death penalty has also been reinstated. The order details who should be given the death penalty and for what reasons, and includes any “first-degree felony committed by an alien illegally present in this country” and anyone accused of killing a law enforcement officer.
DEPORTATION
Trump has signed an executive order ending a policy that allows immigrants to remain in the United States while they await legal hearings on obtaining American citizenship.
He had promised to "launch the largest deportation program in American history."
His promises on immigration could face legal and logistical challenges.
TikTok
Through a directive, the US president has also postponed the implementation of the law banning the use of the social media platform TikTok for 75 days.
Government Reform
Doge and Elon Musk
Trump has signed a directive creating the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) - a new advisory body aimed at cutting government costs. It is expected to be led by Elon Musk.
Federal hiring freeze
New federal hiring has been halted - except within the US military and a few other categories - until the Trump administration has full control over the government.
Federal employees return to the office
Federal workers have been ordered to work in the office and are not allowed to work from home.
Political persecution
The new US president has signed an executive order seeking to end the “arming of the government against political opponents.” The order mandates a review of the work of various law enforcement and intelligence agencies under the Biden administration to “identify any instances” of weaponization and then recommends “appropriate corrective actions” against those agencies.
also
The "urgent" decisions that Trump is expected to make after taking office
World Health Organization
Trump signed the executive order that marks the beginning of the process of the US withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO).
President Trump had criticized the Geneva-based institution's handling of Covid-19 and began the process of withdrawing from it during the pandemic. Former President Joe Biden later reversed that decision.
Overturning Biden's policies
Biden-era regulations
One of the first directives Trump signed as part of his second term was a document that repealed nearly 80 Biden-era regulations.
Freezing regulations
The directive prohibiting federal agencies from issuing any new regulations until the Trump administration has full control of the government has also been signed.
Diversity and gender
Transgender people
The United States will recognize only "two genders, male and female," according to an executive order signed by Trump.
In the same executive order, Trump has ended all government programs, policies, statements and communications that promote or support "gender ideology."
Renaming the Gulf of Mexico
"The Gulf of America"
The US president has instructed the interior secretary to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to "Gulf of the Americas".
Alaska's Denali Mountain
The same order also directs the interior secretary to rename Alaska's Mount Denali to Mount McKinley - in honor of America's 25th president. Former President Barack Obama changed the name from McKinley to Denali to reflect Native American tribes. It is the highest mountain peak in North America.
The economy
Inflation treatment
Through a directive signed by Trump, every U.S. federal department and agency has been asked to address the cost of living for Americans. Agencies must review the costs of housing, healthcare and household essentials, groceries and fuel.
Climate and energy
Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement
The first set of directives signed by Trump also includes withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement - the historic international agreement aimed at limiting the rise in global temperatures.
It was among the first documents the president signed after his inauguration.
Trump first withdrew from the Paris agreement in 2017, before Biden re-entered the US into it in 2021.
Along with signing the withdrawal agreement, Trump also signed a letter to be sent to the United Nations explaining the withdrawal.
National energy emergency
Trump declared a national energy emergency, promising to fill the strategic petroleum reserves.
The End of the Green New Deal
As part of the executive order on energy, Trump also halted the so-called Green New Deal, which included a series of Biden administration measures aimed at increasing the number of green jobs, regulating the fossil fuel industry, and limiting pollution.
Capitol riots
Pardon for nearly 1600 people who attacked the Capitol
The new American president announced that he would pardon nearly 1.600 of his supporters who were arrested in the riots at the US Capitol in 2021.
What Trump hasn't done yet
fees
After weeks of preparing for a trade war with the US, Canada has, for now, avoided the tariffs that Donald Trump had threatened to impose on the country once he took office.
Trump warned on Monday that tariffs on Canada and Mexico could be imposed on February 1 and ordered federal officials to review established U.S. trade relationships with Canada, Mexico and China.
Trump promises a number of executive orders on his first day in office
The president has promised to impose import tariffs of 25 percent on Canada and Mexico, as well as 10 percent on global imports and 60 percent on Chinese goods.
Secret documents
At a rally on Sunday, Trump said he would release a trove of classified documents related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the subject of countless conspiracy theories, as well as the 1968 assassinations of Senator Robert Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
