Trump had always said that we didn’t have a country if we didn’t control our borders, so it was no surprise that he took drastic action immediately after his inauguration. Not only did he announce that he would use funds appropriated for other purposes to finish the wall; he directed the Border Patrol to shoot anyone coming across the border outside of a regulated crossing point on sight. He justified this by saying that only massive cruelty would put an end to the immigration problem; with an appropriate program of deterrence, the incentives to cross the border illegally would disappear, and the asylum seekers would be forced to remain at home.
The new program, was, of course, a violation of both international and American law, but as far as Trump as concerned, the previous year had shown that the law was an ass, and power was all that mattered. He ignored a barrage of court orders telling him to stop. The public was outraged, but the base was delighted.
What did this accomplish? Since asylum seekers don’t carry fentanyl, it did nothing to reduce the flow of drugs across the border. American prestige around the world plunged–not that Trump cared. Most of the American electorate was appalled, and Republicans took the blame, which was only right. After all, they had never wanted a solution to the immigration problem; they just wanted to milk it for all it was worth, which at this point, was nothing.