WASHINGTON — President Trump will announce plans for a Mexican border wall on Wednesday, addressing a key campaign promise on the sixth day of his presidency.
Trump himself tweeted out the news, writing, "Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!"
Trump is expected to begin rolling out executive actions on immigration, beginning with steps to tighten border security, including his wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and other domestic immigration enforcement measures, according to two administration officials, the Associated Press reported.
The executive orders reportedly also include a temporary ban on most refugees and a suspension of visas for citizens of Syria and six other Middle Eastern and African countries, congressional aides and immigration experts said, according to Reuters.
The White House said the president will visit the headquarters of the Department of Homeland Security Wednesday afternoon, but gave no specifics other than that there would be a photo opportunity.
Trump aides have made clear that there's been no change in Trump's position on the border wall, and he's getting right to work on it. Unlike some of his other first-week actions — like pushing pipeline projects and reinstating the Mexico City policy on global funding of abortion groups — Trump needs congressional support to authorize a border wall.
"The president has noted that this was a serious priority of his throughout the campaign," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Monday. "He has already started to work with congress on the appropriations avenue of that. And so he is doing everything he can to direct agencies and congress to commence with that work as soon as possible."
The wall is just one component of a Trump immigration policy that could also include other executive orders, rolling back President Obama's deferred deportation programs and instituting what he has called "extreme vetting" of immigrants from Muslim countries.