President
Donald Trump will take executive action Wednesday directing federal
resources toward building a border wall, a White House official
confirmed to CNN.
The move
begins a multi-day roll out of immigration actions that's also expected
to include moves related to refugees and visas. Trump will make the
announcement during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security at
1:25 p.m. ET.
Trump himself hinted
at Wednesday's move on Twitter, writing "Big day planned on NATIONAL
SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!"
Precise details of the executive action
aren't yet known, but the Trump administration believes they can
construct the wall through existing law, including the Bush-era Secure
Fence Act.
Trump launched his campaign on a hardline immigration policy,
proposing to build a "great, great wall" along the US-Mexico border and
later to institute a "complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United
States" until the US government could properly vet people coming in.
But as time went on, Trump's rhetoric on immigration began to change and, at times, soften. His
aides eventually walked back the Muslim ban to a ban on immigration
from countries with widespread terrorism issues.
And while Trump
promised to deport all people in the country illegal throughout the
campaign, Sean Spicer, his press secretary, said Monday that repealing
President Barack Obama's two immigration executive actions were not the
President's prime focus.
"First and
foremost, the President's been very, very clear that we need to direct
agencies to focus on those who are in this country illegally and have a
record a criminal record or poses a threat to the American people,"
Spicer said. "That's where the priorities going to be."