Hello CHC's, please see information on yesterday's Executive Orders from KPCA Federal Policy Analyst, Colleen Meiman:
As expected, Pres, Trump signed a long list of Executive Orders yesterday – including at least 10 impacting immigration, plus others involving DEI, gender identity, and the Federal workforce. According to this morning's list on WhiteHouse.gov, none of them are expected to impact CHCs directly, although many of them will certainly impact groups of CHC patients (e.g., those with certain immigration statuses). Notably, the Sensitive Locations policy – which generally prohibits immigration enforcement activities in health care settings – was not rescinded. Having said that, we expect many more EOs to be signed in the coming hours & days and will keep you informed of significant developments.
Re: immigration, national media outlets report that the new Administration intends to launch large raids in cities such as Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles, starting as soon as today. (See New York Times article pasted below.) This is consistent with statements from Pres. Trump's Border Czar, Tom Homan, that the public should expect immigration action in the early days of the Trump presidency that create "shock and awe."
Here are some policies from yesterday's EOs that could impact CHCs indirectly:
- "Cracking down" on the border, including ending asylum and pausing refugee resettlement programs. At least 10 EOs addressed this issue.
- Establishing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Interestingly, the EO states that DOGE's task is "modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity", and makes no mention of the Federal budget or savings.
- Making all Federal career employees who work in "policy-influencing" positions fireable-at-will, and encouraging agencies to reassign members of the career Senior Executive Service (like Jim Macrae, Tonya Bowers, and Suma Nair).
- Ending all DEI and "environmental justice" activities and positions.
- Prohibiting agencies from issuing any new regulatory documents (a "regulatory freeze"), and, as appropriate, extending by 60 days the effective date for any regulations that have yet to take effect.
- Requiring all Federal employees to return to the office in-person full-time.
- Effectively end any Federal government efforts to address misinformation.
- Requiring the Federal government to use language that recognizes that "women are biologically female, and men are biologically male."
While I'll be on travel for the next two days, Steve and I will keep you updated about developments as quickly as we can.
Colleen and Steve
Article re: immigration raids from the 1/17/25 New York Times:
Trump's Deportation Plan Could Start Next Week in Chicago
Details of planned immigration raids are unclear, but they would be the opening step in the president-elect's goal of overseeing the largest deportation program in history.
By Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Hamed Aleaziz
Published Jan. 17, 2025 Updated Jan. 18, 2025
Leer en español
The incoming Trump administration has planned for "post-inauguration" immigration raids in Chicago next week, according to two people familiar with the planning and correspondence reviewed by The New York Times, an opening step in President-elect Donald J. Trump's goal to oversee the largest deportation operation in American history.
The plan, called "Operation Safeguard" by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, would start on Tuesday, the day after Mr. Trump is inaugurated, and last until the following Monday, according to the people familiar with it and the correspondence. The dates were still being finalized, however, and could change.
On Saturday, after the plan were reported by news media outlets including The New York Times, Tom Homan, Mr. Trump's border czar, said that the reports had increased "officer safety risks."
"Chicago's not off the table" after the reports, he said, but "no decision has been made yet."
The size of the planned operation was unclear. ICE routinely conducts deportations in cities throughout the United States. But the agency was taking additional steps to ramp up enforcement for the operation and tied it to Mr. Trump's inauguration in a message sent to personnel throughout the agency.
Hundreds of agents were asked to volunteer and participate in the "post-inauguration" operation targeting immigrants in the United States illegally. ICE is planning on sending roughly 150 agents to Chicago for the raids.
For Mr. Trump, the optics of immigration agents sporting ballistic gear and arresting immigrants with uncertain or contested status in a Democratic-led city could be enough. The incoming administration is eager to find ways to send a message that it is cracking down on undocumented immigrants and punishing so-called sanctuary cities - communities like Chicago that refuse to hand over immigrants detained by the police to federal immigration authorities.
Don Terry, a spokesman for the Chicago police, said the department would not "intervene or interfere with any other government agencies performing their duties," but said that it "does not document immigration status" and, following municipal code, "will not share information with federal immigration authorities."
The planned raids were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Homan has said the public should expect immigration action in the early days of the Trump presidency that creates "shock and awe."
Mr. Trump has promised to carry out mass deportations that would target millions of unauthorized immigrants in the United States. Mr. Homan has said the administration will not hesitate to deport parents who are in the country illegally but have U.S.-born children.
Mr. Trump's team also plans to reassign other federal agents and deputize local police officers and members of the National Guard voluntarily contributed by Republican-run states to help with the deportation efforts.
Mr. Homan has tried to draw attention to the so-called sanctuary cities. In November, he suggested that he would ramp up the number of federal immigration officers in those areas.
"New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, the major cities in this country are still sanctuary cities," Mr. Homan said then, adding, "If they're not going to help us, then we'll just double the manpower in those cities."
But plans to deport millions of undocumented immigrants are still likely to face enormous financial and logistical hurdles. In recent weeks, Mr. Trump and his immigration officials have said their immigration operation would first target those with a criminal record.
Mr. Trump often threatened nationwide deportation raids when he was last in the White House, shocking many of his ICE officials. He achieved mixed results.
In 2019, Mr. Trump promoted a blitz-like effort to target roughly 2,000 migrants who were in the United States illegally as a show of force against migration. Just 35 people were detained in the operation.
In 2019, ICE removed more than 267,000 people - the highest annual total during the Trump administration. That pales in comparison to the high mark that occurred under President Barack Obama, who deported more than 400,000 people in one year.
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Chuck O'Neal
Director, Member Support
KPCA
Frankfort KY
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