WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Among the first acts of his second term, President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders including on immigration, birthright citizenship and climate. Some Catholic organizations expressed concern about the scope of his orders and their potential impact on migrants.
In an event at Capital One Arena, Trump signed a slew of executive orders in front of a crowd of his supporters. According to announcements from one of his aides, Trump signed orders rescinding 78 of former President Joe Biden's executive actions, including one which created a task force to reunite families deliberately separated at the border. Another order suspended some U.S. refugee programs, including one for Afghans cleared by the U.S. government to resettle in the U.S. due to threats by the Taliban after they aided the U.S.
Trump also signed an order withdrawing from the Paris Agreement on climate.
Once he reached the Oval Office, Trump signed an executive order granting about 1,500 pardons for those charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol – the day 2,000 supporters of then-President Donald Trump attempted to block Congress' certification of President Joe Biden's election victory when he returned to the Oval Office later that evening. Trump indicated there might be additional commutations after "review."
Trump also signed an executive order seeking to end the practice of birthright citizenship. The 14th Amendment states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside,” but Trump told reporters in the Oval Office "we're the only country in the world that does this." The order will likely face legal challenges.
In his inaugural address just hours earlier, Trump said he would sign a series of executive orders in the coming days, including declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, shutting down "illegal entry," and beginning "the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came." The White House said Trump would take "bold action to secure our border."
While the specifics on how the White House may carry out a mass deportation program are not yet fully clear, mass deportations more broadly run contrary to the Second Vatican Council's teaching in "Gaudium et Spes" condemning "deportation" among other actions, such as abortion, that "poison human society" and give "supreme dishonor to the Creator," a teaching St. John Paul II affirmed in two encyclicals on moral truth and life issues.
Executive orders are legally binding directives from the president and are published in the Federal Register. Conversely, the term "executive actions" is broader and may include informal proposals for policy the president would like to see enacted. While it is typical for new presidents to issue some executive orders on their first day to signal certain priorities, Trump signaled plans that were broader in scope. Some of his planned orders are expected to face legal challenges.
Chieko Noguchi, executive director of public affairs for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement the "conference will be carefully reviewing the executive orders that are expected to be signed today by President Trump."
"The Catholic Church's foundational teaching calls us to uphold the sacredness of human life and the God-given dignity of the human person. This means that the care for immigrants, refugees, and the poor is part of the same teaching of the Church that requires us to protect the most vulnerable among us, especially unborn children, the elderly and the infirm. The bishops' conference will work with the Trump Administration as well as the U.S. Congress to advance the common good for all, which will include instances of agreement, as well as disagreement.”
Ronnate Asirwatham, director of government relations for Network, a Catholic social justice lobby, said in a statement, “In the coming days we will see an onslaught of Executive Orders, proclamations, and legislation that will attempt to criminalize our neighbors, family members, and friends, we will not let our community be divided in this way."
"From doctors to grocery store workers, if our neighbors are ripped from our communities, we will be grieving their loss, absence, gifts, and contributions to our community and country," Asirwatham said. "We refuse to stay silent as the state unnecessarily targets people, all the while pursuing policies that benefit only the ultra-wealthy.”
Use of CBP One, the mobile app run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to secure appointments needed to claim asylum and legally enter the United States, was suspended as Trump's term began.
Dylan Corbett, executive director of the Hope Border Institute, wrote in a post on X that while the app "wasn't perfect," it "contributed to a dramatic reduction in irregular border crossings and was the beginning of a safe, orderly and rational way of managing migration at the border."
"Demolishing it in a day will only make life more chaotic for Border Patrol and migrants," he said.
The same evening, the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to confirm Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., as secretary of state on Monday, making him the first confirmed member of Trump's Cabinet in his second administration.
All 99 senators voted in favor of Rubio – including Rubio himself. The one vacancy in the Senate was due to Vice President JD Vance resigning from his Ohio seat earlier in January to take on his new role. Rubio subsequently resigned from the upper chamber as a result of his confirmation.
