Now we’re getting serious: Guantanamo Bay and U.S. attorneys. The Trump administration’s twin actions last week stepping up its attack on the illegal immigration problem show the depth of Trump’s commitment to ending the crisis at our southern border and his determination to get results. And, clearly, while these moves represent a significant escalation of his administration’s actions to secure the border, they are just two of many, many actions Trump has ordered – each of which puts the lie to Joe Biden’s complaint that he needed a new law from Congress before he could do anything to stop the flow of illegal aliens across the southern border.
On Wednesday, nine days into his new presidency, Trump signed an executive order instructing the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to ready the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for use as a detention facility for “high-priority criminal aliens unlawfully present in the United States.”
On Thursday, Trump’s senior political appointee at the Department of Justice, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, held a conference call with all 93 U.S. attorneys to tell them he’s “recruiting their line prosecutors” for border enforcement duties, speaking of the new administration’s focus on border security enforcement in the context of a terrorist attack, according to sources who spoke to Bloomberg Law.
Enlisting the top levels of the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Justice, it turns out, wasn’t beyond the powers of a president. It was just beyond the powers, apparently, of the previous occupant of the Oval Office.
“I’ve done all I can do,” said Biden, “Just give me the power I’ve asked from the very day I got into office. Give me the Border Patrol. Give me the people, the judges. Give me the people who can stop this and make it work right,” he said, putting on a show of begging for more power and authority, claiming, falsely, that without new powers, he was hamstrung.
Coming from the most lawless president in history, who set new standards for executive overreach that was later struck down by the Supreme Court, this was rich. The pretend begging was just another deception in a long string of deceptions.
Biden didn’t need any new laws. He didn’t need Congress to act. He merely needed to reverse his own policies – policies his administration put in place on his first day in office, when he ordered, among other things, an end to the Migrant Protection Protocols (also known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy) and construction of the Border Wall; sent legislation to Congress creating an amnesty for illegal immigrants; instituted a "catch and release" policy (which was later struck down by a federal judge) for illegal aliens apprehended while entering our nation unlawfully; rescinded the Trump executive order calling for the prompt removal of all illegal aliens living in the United States and terminating federal funding for so-called “sanctuary states”; and directed the DHS secretary and the attorney general to take action to fortify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program.
If Biden had not taken those actions, it’s very likely we would not have suffered the illegal alien invasion of the last four years. It’s very likely we would not have had more than 10 million illegal aliens enter our country.
He didn’t need a new law to secure the border. All he needed was the determination to secure the border.
President Trump proved this on January 20, 2025, when, upon resuming office, he put his signature to a series of executive orders and actions tasking the military with securing the border; moving to designate foreign drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists; overturning Biden-issued executive orders regarding U.S. government approaches to immigration; declaring a national emergency at the southern border; declaring new policy regarding securing the border; revoking more Biden-issued executive orders regarding immigration; ending birthright citizenship; and guaranteeing states protection against invasion by illegal aliens.
And, as noted above with respect to ordering preparations for the use of U.S. military facilities at Guantanamo Bay to hold criminal illegal alien detainees and recruiting U.S. attorneys from across the country to assist in border enforcement, those Day One executive orders were only the start.
It turns out there’s an awful lot a president can do just on his own authority to stem the flow of illegal aliens crossing our border and restore the rule of law. All it takes is determination – and the right leader in the Oval Office.
Jenny Beth Martin is Honorary Chairman of Tea Party Patriots Action.