Trump signed three executive orders on Thursday aimed at protecting against crime both internationally and domestically.
The executive orders are aimed at combating transnational drug cartels, reducing crime, and preventing violence against members of law enforcement. The latter two direct newly-appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions to coordinate with other federal agencies in order to form a task force which would devise “strategies to reduce crime, including, in particular, illegal immigration, drug trafficking and violent crime.”
The goal of the first executive order is to crack down on transnational drug cartels that have operations here in the U.S. “I’m directing Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to undertake all necessary and lawful action to break the back of the criminal cartels that have spread across our nation and are destroying the blood of our youth and other people,” Trump said Thursday.
Trump has fought vociferously against the existence of a drug culture, and by taking these actions he signals his intent to use the power of the executive to strengthen the war on drugs that has already put countless numbers of U.S. citizens in jail.
Trump also publicly denounced the violence against law enforcement officials that the third executive order aims to combat. “It’s a shame what’s been happening to our great, truly great law enforcement officers,” said Trump. “That’s going to stop as of today.”
Trump signed the three executive orders on Thursday after the swearing-in ceremony of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Trump, with these executive orders, indicates that he intends to follow through on long-held campaign promises to fight crime, and fight the drug war. Throughout his campaign, Trump condemned high crime rates, especially crime against members of law enforcement. Trump dubbed himself the “law and order” candidate, and promised to crack down on crime. These orders — while mainly just directives for Jeff Sessions to formulate strategies with other agencies — signal that Trump is intent on keeping this key campaign promise.
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Nicholas Amato
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