One of Donald Trump’s major campaign pledges was to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
On Tuesday night, the U.S. president issued a tweet suggesting he will get the ball rolling on his wall Wednesday.
The tweet was initially issued with a spelling error as he said ‘Amoung’ rather than among. It was quickly deleted and reissued just moments later. This was the second time in a week he has made an error in a tweet.
The wall is one of several major changes Trump is expected to make to U.S. immigration policy over the next few days. He is expected to announce a temporary ban on most refugees and a suspension of visas for citizens of Syria and six other Middle Eastern and African countries, according to Reuters.
Trump is also expected to increase the number of border agents patrolling the southern U.S. border as well as take other steps to reduce the number of illegal immigrants currently residing in the U.S.
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The president is expected to sign the first actions Wednesday, during a trip to the Department of Homeland Security, with additional actions being rolled out over the next few days, one official told the Associated Press.
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Trump is also expected to take part in a ceremony installing his new secretary of homeland security, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly.
Trump’s insistence that Mexico would pay for the wall was among his most popular proposals on the campaign trail, sparking enthusiastic cheers at his raucous rallies.
Mexico has repeatedly said it will not pay for any border wall. Earlier this month, Trump said the building project would initially be paid for with a congressionally-approved spending bill and Mexico will eventually reimburse the U.S., though he has not specified how he would guarantee payments.
Trump will meet with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto at the White House next week.
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In claiming authority to build a wall, Trump may rely on a 2006 law that authorized several hundred of kilometres of fencing along the 3,200-kilometre frontier. That bill led to the construction of about 1,100 kilometres of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians.
The Secure Fence Act was signed by then-President George W. Bush and the majority of the fencing in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California was built before he left office. The last remnants were completed after President Barack Obama took office in 2009.
With files from wire services
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