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On Wednesday, Trump signed two executive orders that will begin construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and deny federal funding for sanctuary cities, BuzzFeed News reports. Much of Donald Trump's campaign rhetoric focused on immigration and his promise to build a wall on the border between the United States and Mexico was central to his platform.
Speaking in front of the Department of Homeland Security, Trump outlined his plans to "immediately" build the wall. "We are going to get the bad ones out," he said, echoing statements made during his campaign. "The criminals, and drug dealers, and gangs, and gang members."
During an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Trump said that the wall would be built "in months," mentioning that American taxpayers will initially pay for the wall, while the federal government will be "reimbursed at a later date.”
President Trump outlines the executive orders that will begin construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border. pic.twitter.com/jTxtSIw0lq
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) January 25, 2017
In a press conference on Wednesday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer addressed each executive order, the first of which will "build a large physical barrier on the southern border,” according to Spicer. "This will stem the flow of drugs, crime, illegal immigration into the United States and yes, one way or another as the president has said before, Mexico will pay for it,” he said.
The second executive order "addresses the enforcement of our immigration laws in the United States," Spicer said. Sanctuary cities — including San Francisco, Boston, Austin, and more — will be stripped of grant money for not reporting illegal immigrants to the federal government. Spicer told the press that the U.S. government "will withhold visas and use other tools to make sure countries accept and return the criminals that came from their country.”