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What executive orders did Trump sign on day one?

Watch: Donald Trump promises ‘golden age’ in first speech as 47th US President

Donald Trump has issued a flurry of executive orders on everything from immigration, climate to pardons after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.

At the White House, the Republican quickly set about using his new powers to sign off on executive actions, presidential memorandums and executive orders on a host of policy priorities.

Executive orders carry the weight of law, but can be overturned by subsequent presidents or the courts. Many could face legal challenges.

Here are some of the many policy changes that Trump enacted within hours of being sworn into office.

Immigration

National emergency at the border

In the Oval Office, Trump signed a directive to declare a national emergency at the southern border. “That’s a big one,” Trump said as he added his signature.

He also targeted automatic citizenship for US-born children of immigrants in the country illegally.

Trump also signed an order that is set to suspend the US refugee resettlement programme for four months, though the details were unclear.

Closing the border

Trump ordered the military to “seal the borders” and cited the flow of illicit drugs, human smuggling and crime relating to crossings.

Terrorism designation for gangs and cartels

The president signed a directive that designates drug cartels and international gangs as foreign terrorist organisations. Salvadoran migrant gang MS-13 and Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua will be added to a list that includes al-Qaeda, the so-called Islamic State, and Hamas.

Resume wall-building

As part of his emergency declaration at the southern border, Trump directed agency chiefs to relaunch efforts to “construct additional physical barriers along the southern border”. The directive is not an executive order and it’s unclear how such an effort might be funded, a key hurdle for Trump during his first term.

When Trump was first elected president in 2016, he signed an executive order to build a border wall. Although some parts of the barrier were built, most were left uncompleted.

‘Remain in Mexico’

Trump also re-implemented his “Remain in Mexico” policy in a day-one executive order. A measure from his first term, it returned about 70,000 non-Mexican asylum seekers across the border to await hearings.

Migration policy

In the same order, Trump also shut down a major Biden-era immigration pipeline: a sponsorship initiative that allowed up to 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to fly to the US.

Death penalty for certain immigrant criminals

Trump signed an executive order reinstating the death penalty. The order details those who the penalty should be used on and includes any “capital crime committed by an alien illegally present in this country” and anyone convicted of murdering a law enforcement officer.

Deportations

Trump issued an executive order ending the practice of “catch and release”, a policy that allows migrants to live in US communities while they await their hearings.

He has previously promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history” and end a long-time policy that has kept federal immigration authorities from conducting raids on churches and schools.

His immigration promises could face legal and logistical challenges.