Immigration crackdown, deportation bid launched

WASHINGTON/PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico — US President Donald Trump on Monday kicked off his sweeping immigration crackdown, tasking the US military with aiding border security, issuing a broad ban on asylum and taking steps to restrict citizenship for children born on US soil.

Declaring illegal immigration a national emergency, Trump ordered the Pentagon to provide support for border wall construction, detention space, and migrant transportation, and empowered the Secretary of Defense to send troops to the border as needed.

Trump called for his administration to reinstate his "Remain in Mexico" program, which forced non-Mexican migrants to wait in Mexico for the resolution of their US cases.