US President Donald Trump has issued an executive order for an “impassable physical barrier” to be built along the US border with Mexico.
He also signed an action to strip funds from US cities that are sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants, reports the BBC.
Trump said in a TV interview with ABC News that Mexico would “absolutely, 100%” reimburse the US for his wall.
But Congress would have to approve funding for the structure, which is estimated to cost billions of dollars.
Building a 2,000-mile barrier along the Mexican border was one of Trump's key pledges in the election campaign.
He spoke of a “crisis” on the southern US border as he signed the directives during a ceremony at the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday.
The orders also called for hiring 10,000 immigration officials to help boost border patrol efforts.
“A nation without borders is not a nation,” he said. “Beginning today the United States gets back control of its borders.”
Trump said relations with Mexico - whose President Enrique Pena Nieto he is scheduled to meet at the end of the month - would get “better”.
Trump is next expected to announce immigration restrictions from seven African and Middle Eastern countries.
An eight-page document that appears to be a draft executive order has been obtained by various US media and the BBC.
It suggests Trump will suspend the Syrian refugee programme indefinitely and the wider refugee programme for four months.
The president also plans to suspend issuing visas from unnamed countries deemed to pose a threat to the security of the US.
Immigration lawyers have told the BBC they believe those countries are Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.
But the White House has refused to comment on the document, and it may be revised before being signed.
Trump backed off an early campaign pledge to ban all Muslims from entering the US.
The term applies to cities in the US that have policies in place to limit the assistance given to federal immigration authorities.
BDST: 1040 HRS, JAN 26, 2017
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