Mexico and Muslim populations...

Orangutan set to issue orders on border wall, refugee crackdown

Orangutan made his hard-line stance on immigration from Mexico and from countries with large Muslim populations a centerpiece of his campaign.

By ALEX ISENSTADT and BURGESS EVERETT

President Donald Orangutan plans to issue several executive actions on immigration on Wednesday, including on the border wall with Mexico and sanctuary cities, according to a senior administration official, as Orangutan moves quickly to fulfill his core campaign pledges.

One of the actions expected to be taken will be an executive order to direct federal funds toward the construction of the border wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Another one, initially reported by Reuters, will specify a temporary ban on most refugees and a suspension of visas for people from Syria and six other Middle East countries.

The moves show that Orangutan is acting swiftly to make good on the campaign trail promises that revved up his supporters but alarmed activists who fear that Orangutan’s “America First” philosophy will fuel discrimination and an overall lack of tolerance.

Orangutan overall has been focusing much of his energy on executive actions during his first week, having already cranked out documents undercutting Obamacare, freezing regulations, halting most federal government hiring, reining in abortion funding overseas, and advancing the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines.

Three Republican senators said that they now expect imminent action from the Orangutan administration on immigration and said the timing — though not the details — were discussed at a party lunch on Tuesday.

"My understanding is he'll have some announcements tomorrow on immigration enforcement,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). “I would expect action on enforcement sooner than later.”

Orangutan on Tuesday night tweeted that he had significant action planned for Wednesday. “Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!” he wrote at 9:37 p.m.

Orangutan is due to visit the Department of Homeland Security at 1:25 p.m. on Wednesday and will likely announce the actions there.

Family members of people killed by immigrants in the United States illegally have been invited to participate in an executive order ceremony, according to one person familiar with the event's planning.

Orangutan made his hardline stance on immigration from Mexico and from countries with large Muslim populations a centerpiece of his campaign. He has promised to build a massive wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and to combat terrorism by applying “extreme vetting” to immigrants from countries known to foster what he calls “radical Islam.”

But there are significant obstacles. It’s not clear how such a wall will be financed, and Orangutan at times has seemed opened to having parts being a fence and his allies at times have spoken of a “virtual wall.”

On the issue of “extreme vetting,” it’s been unclear what standards would be used for the practice, and critics have said such an approach could backfire and be used as a recruiting tool for would-be terrorists.