President Donald Trump has signed executive actions to jump-start construction of a US-Mexico border wall and block federal grants from immigrant-protecting "sanctuary cities".
"Beginning today, the United States of America gets back control of its borders," Mr Trump declared during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security.
"We are going to save lives on both sides of the border."
Mr Trump cast his actions as fulfilment of a campaign pledge to enact hard-line immigration measures, including construction of a wall paid for by Mexico.
With the families of Americans killed by people living in the US illegally sitting in the audience, Mr Trump said: "When it comes to public safety, there is no place for politics."
Funding for the border wall project is murky.
While Mr Trump has repeatedly promised that Mexico will pay for it, US taxpayers are expected to cover the initial costs and the new administration has said nothing about how it will compel Mexico to reimburse the money.
One of the executive actions Mr Trump signed on Wednesday appears to signal that he could restrict aid to Mexico.
In an interview with ABC News earlier on Wednesday, Mr Trump said: "There will be a payment; it will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form."
Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto, who has insisted his country will not pay for a wall, is expected to meet Mr Trump at the White House next week, despite calls from some lawmakers for him to cancel his visit.
Congressional aides say there is about 100 million US dollars (£79 million) of unspent appropriations in the Department of Homeland Security account for border security, fencing and infrastructure.
That would allow planning efforts to get started, but far more money would have to be appropriated for when construction got under way.
Mr Trump has insisted many times the border structure will be a wall.
The order he signed referred to "a contiguous, physical wall or other similarly secure, contiguous and impassable physical barrier".
The president's orders also call for hiring 5,000 additional border patrol agents, although the increase is subject to congressional approval.
He also moved to end what Republicans have labelled a catch-and-release system at the border.
Currently, some immigrants caught crossing the border illegally are released and given notices to report back to immigration officials at a later date.
Later in the week, Mr Trump is expected to sign orders restricting the flow of refugees into the United States.
His current proposal includes at least a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as a temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim-majority countries, according to a source from a public policy organisation that monitors refugee issues.
Mr Trump campaigned on pledges to tighten US immigration policies, including strengthening border security and stemming the flow of refugees.
His call for a border wall was among his most popular proposals with supporters, who often broke out in chants of "build that wall" during rallies.
In response to terrorism concerns, Mr Trump controversially called for halting entry to the US from Muslim countries.
He later turned to a focus on "extreme vetting" for those coming from countries with terrorism ties.
To build the wall, the president is relying on a 2006 law that authorised several hundred miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile frontier.
That bill led to the construction of about 700 miles of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians.
The Secure Fence Act was signed by then-president George W Bush, and the majority of that fencing in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California was built before he left office.
The last remnants were completed after Barack Obama took office in 2009.
The Trump administration must also adhere to a decades-old border treaty with Mexico that limits where and how structures can be built.
The 1970 treaty requires that structures cannot disrupt the flow of the rivers, which define the US-Mexico border along Texas and 24 miles in Arizona, according to The International Boundary and Water Commission, a joint US-Mexican agency that administers the treaty.
Mr Trump's order to crack down on sanctuary cities - locales that do not co-operate with immigration authorities - could cost individual jurisdictions millions of dollars.
However, the administration may face legal challenges, given that some federal courts have found that local jurisdictions cannot hold immigrants beyond their jail term or deny them bond based only a request from immigration authorities.
It appeared as though the refugee restrictions were still being finalised.
The person briefed on the proposals said they included a ban on entry to the US for at least 30 days from countries including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, although the person cautioned the details could still change.
There is also likely to be an exception for those fleeing religious persecution if their religion is a minority in their country.
That exception could cover Christians fleeing Muslim-majority nations.
As president, Mr Trump can use an executive order to halt refugee processing.
Mr Bush used that same power in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks.
Refugee security vetting was reviewed and the process was restarted several months later.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel