Using the Pen as a Sword

It was a busy first day of a executive orders highlighted by a series of immigration directives (including declaring an immigration emergency and plans to end birthright citizenship), plans to pull out of the World Health Organization and the Paris climate agreements, the rolling back DEI and protections for transgender people, and granting TikTok a 75 ban reprieve. Also, “Trump planned to sign an order renaming the Gulf of Mexico, making it the Gulf of America. The highest mountain in North America, now known as Denali, will revert back to Mount McKinley.”

+ NYT: Trump’s Executive Orders: Reversing Biden’s Policies and Attacking the ‘Deep State.’

+ “The lawsuit by the 18 states, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, claims Mr. Trump’s initiative violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which the federal government has long interpreted to mean that those born on American soil are citizens at birth.” 18 states sue Trump administration over order seeking to overturn birthright citizenship.

+ “A few dozen migrants had already scored appointments. Some of them had waited almost a year in Mexico, applying every day for the chance to cross the border legally. And then, within minutes, their dream of making a new life in the U.S. was undone.” NPR: Almost as soon as Donald Trump became President Trump, the phone application that allows migrants appointments to seek asylum in the United States went down.

+ NYT (Gift Article): Trump Signs Orders to Promote Fossil Fuels and End Climate Policies.

+ Trump admin removes commandant of Coast Guard, citing border failures and focus on DEI.

+ And just one example of how detailed the new administration is being when it comes to the delete button: A federal website on reproductive rights has vanished.