Donald Trump signs executive order for construction of Mexico border wall
According to an estimate by the US Home department, there are about 11 million immigrants living illegally in America.
The presidential directives signed Wednesday aim to create more detention centers, add thousands of Border Patrol agents and withhold federal funds from what are known as sanctuary cities, which do not comply with federal immigration laws. One order calls for the “immediate construction of a physical wall," the newspaper reported.
According to reports, more directives could come later this week, including new restrictions on refugees and immigrants from Muslim-majority countries over concerns about terrorism.
Reacting to the US move, Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto has said that his country will not pay for the wall.
"Mexico does not believe in walls. I've said time again; Mexico will not pay for any wall," Pena Nieto said in the video statement on Twitter, which was translated from Spanish by CNN.
In an interview earlier today with ABC News, Trump repeated his claim that Mexico would pay for the wall, reimbursing it 100 percent.
While speculations are rife over the possibility of the Mexico President going to cancel his January 31 US trip, Nieto did not say anything.
However, The Washington Post quoted Mexico News Daily as having reported that many of Nieto's colleagues in government as well as in other political parties urged him to cancel the US trip, following Trump's order.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
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