By Priscilla Alvarez

Washington (CNN) — President Donald Trump and his aides vowed to begin his term by taking a series of sweeping immigration executive actions Monday that include declaring a national emergency at the US southern border, immediately ending use of a border app called CBP One that had allowed migrants to legally enter the United States, and kicking off the process to end birthright citizenship, which is expected to tee up a legal fight.

The executive actions are the culmination of multiple campaign pledges and the resurfacing of policy ideas that didn’t come to fruition during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term. Trump aides have signaled that they will be followed within days by a series of immigration enforcement sweeps targeting criminals, though they haven’t ruled out that others could be apprehended, too.

The shutdown of CBP One Monday closed a key pathway for people looking to come into the US. Homeland Security officials have cited the app as helping drive down migrant crossings by providing an orderly way to apply to the United States. With that now gone, and asylum restrictions in place, the border is effectively shut down to asylum seekers — an extraordinary move.

More than 936,500 people have successfully used the app to schedule appointments to present at ports of entry since January 2023, according to US Customs and Border Protection. Existing appointments have been canceled, the agency said.

Trump said in his inaugural address that he was declaring a national emergency at the US southern border and that “all illegal entry will immediately be halted.” That declaration would trigger deploying additional Pentagon resources and deployment of armed forces to finish the border wall, among other efforts. It is only focused on southern border security.

“We will have the military at the southern border, but there are other elements of the United States government that will be working throughout the country,” an incoming White House official said.

Trump said he was designating cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

“This initiative is a process that will lead to the designation of the cartels like … Tren de Aragua and MS 13 as FTOs and or specifically designated global terrorist,” an incoming White House official said, adding that the move will direct removal of the gang members and, under the Alien Enemies Act, find them as “irregular armed force of Venezuela’s government conducting a predatory incursion and invasion into the United States.”

Trump also confirmed he was kicking off the process to reinstate his signature border policy known as “remain in Mexico,” requiring migrants to stay in Mexico while they go through their immigration proceedings in the United States. The policy requires Mexico’s buy in.

Monday’s other executive actions, which Trump officials previewed but haven’t yet shared the actual text, include:

• Ending birthright citizenship, an issue that would need to be addressed via constitutional amendment or via the courts. The action is focused on the phrase “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof in the 14th amendment to clarify that on a prospective basis, the federal government will not recognize automatic birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens born in the United States.”

• Suspending refugee resettlement for at least four months.

• Directing the attorney general to seek capital punishment for the murder of law enforcement officers and capital crimes committed by undocumented immigrants.

Trump’s executive actions on immigration were written carefully and deliberately to try withstanding expected legal challenges, according to a source familiar with the planning.

It’s a lesson learned from Trump’s first term, when multiple immigration executive orders, some of which were hastily written, were challenged in court. Trump’s allies argue those legal fights hamstrung Trump’s immigration agenda.

As Trump’s team crafted a slate of immigration executive orders, they tried to account for that.

“They’re ready this time,” the source said.

Immigration groups have been privately weighing how they’ll approach lawsuits under the Trump administration, keenly aware that this Trump administration is more prepared and avoiding knee-jerk reactions.

Trump is inheriting a relatively quiet border. While the Biden administration grappled with record crossings over recent years, migrant crossings along the US-Mexico border plummeted in the wake of executive action by President Joe Biden last summer cracking down on asylum.

In December, the last full month of the Biden administration, US Border Patrol recorded 47,300 migrant encounters, according to US Customs and Border Protection. In December 2020, the last full month of Trump’s first term, illegal crossings hovered around 71,000.

This story has been updated with new information.

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