January 20, 2025 was president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration day. During the following events, his first week as President of the United States was marked by various executive actions that set the tone for his administration. He signed several executive orders, thus sparking widespread debates.
Executive orders are declarations from the president that manages the operations of the federal government. Since day one of Trump’s first term, he made his intentions with the US clear. To start off on all the promises he made, he has signed a total of 37 executive orders, from January 20 to the 27th, affecting topics such as immigration, the environment, social affairs, etc.
Immigration/Border
Birthright Citizenship:
Children born on American soil will not be recognized as US citizens if the parents are not citizens themselves. Birthright citizenship is the 14th amendment of the US constitution and has been a part of it since the year 1868.
National emergency on the southern border:
This allows President Trump to deploy members of the Armed Forces to the southern border and create physical barriers. It also revokes former President Joe Biden’s proclamation of removing funds for the border wall.
Suspending refugee resettlement:
This will stop the refugee resettlement program on January 27, for the time being until the entry of refugees aligns with American interests.
Classifying cartels and other organizations as “global terrorists:”
This increases resources and broadens the ways of handling these groups. Designating these groups as terrorist organizations will make it easier to address them.
Border Security:
This will make the United States take all appropriate actions in securing the border. This includes establishing a wall, preventing illegal immigration, obtaining complete control of the U.S. borders, etc. It reinstates “Remain in Mexico” which causes those seeking for asylum to remain in Mexico until their immigration court date. This also ends the “catch and release” policy, which means that those awaiting their hearings in immigration court will no longer be sent back into the community, instead they’ll be held in immigration detention.
Climate/Environment
Withdrawing from the Paris Agreement:
Donald Trump is leaving the Paris climate accord once again. The leave will take some time, which is most likely a few years. This agreement is an international treaty on climate change. Its efforts are to prevent and reduce the impacts of global warming.
More energy exploration and production:
This is meant to implement new policies, and reverse the past rules that may have slowed down the development of abundant and natural resources.
Declaring a national energy emergency:
An energy emergency is when there is a shortage or disruption in energy production that causes major issues to the country and its economy. Declaring that there is a national energy emergency will give Trump authority to help fix this issue.
Oil drilling in Alaska: Taking advantage of Alaska’s resource potential.
Social Affairs
Suspending the TikTok ban:
Recently, the ban for TikTok in the United States has passed. President Trump has signed to postpone the ban for an extra 75 days.
Withdraw from the World Health Organization:
The World Health Organization is an agency in the UN that works to promote health, ensure more people have universal health coverage, and protect people from health emergencies.
Ending DEI programs and preferencing:
This terminates diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the federal government. Its aim is to end illegal preferences and discrimination in the workforce.
Reforming the federal hiring process and restoring merit-based opportunity:
Merit-based opportunity is hiring someone based on their qualifications. This executive order’s purpose is to change the federal government’s hiring process and restore merit-based opportunity and processing. This prioritizes efficiency instead of race, sex, or religion.
Enforcing the Hyde Amendment:
The Hyde Amendment is a law that prevents tax money from funding abortions. Enforcing this also revokes two executive orders made by the past administration.
Only Two Genders:
President Donald Trump proclaims that the U.S government will only recognize two sexes, male and female.
Government
Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders:
This revokes a total of 78 executive orders made by the past administration.
Council to assess Federal Emergency Management Agency:
This calls for a review of FEMA by professionals, so improvements can be made when it comes to responding to disasters. FEMA is an agency that is responsible for recovering from and responding to disasters.
Military/Security
Iron dome:
The purpose is to build an iron dome in the U.S for self-defense purposes.
Abolishing DEI programs in the US Army:
This is to remove preferencing when it comes to the military.
Prohibition for trans people to serve:
Transgender people, and those with gender dysphoria, may no longer be able to serve in the army. This will take some time to implement and enforce.
It is important to be aware and educated of all the executive orders that are being signed. This is because it gives direction to how the government will be run by Trump’s administration, and it affects the people of the United States.
