The great wall on the U.S.-Mexico border that President Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail took a big step closer to becoming reality Wednesday when he signed two executive orders aimed at curbing illegal immigration.
Trump insisted that his aim was to keep the nation safe and end "one injustice after another" for the families of Americans killed by undocumented immigrants.
"We hear you, we see you and you will never be ignored again," Trump told victims' relatives at a Department of Homeland Security event after he signed the orders. "You children will not have lost their lives for no reason."
The executive actions include redirecting existing Homeland Security money to erect what the administration described as a "very large" wall on the southern border with Mexico, a signature campaign promise. Additional detention facilities would also be built along the border, according to the action.
"And yes, one way or another, as the president has said, Mexico will pay for it," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters earlier Wednesday.
The ultimate impact of the executive order on building a wall along border is not clear, because Congress would have to approve any additional appropriations.
Trump is scheduled to meet with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto next week in what could prove a tense faceoff as the two leaders discuss coordination, the dismantling of drug cartels and the flow of arms and cash between the two countries.
"They have to stop it. We have to stop it. We are going to save lives on both sides of the border,"Trump said Wednesday.
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