Much of President Donald Trump's immigration and border security agenda has been driven by the actions of former President Joe Biden, causing Trump to take even more steps during his second term in the White House.
"What Biden did, I'd say, is the primary cause of the open borders and the millions he led in, including the bad actors who came along with them," Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation's Border Security and Immigration Center, told Fox News Digital. "It requires quick and drastic steps to stop the flow and find those people and get them out of the country."
The comments come as Trump has unleashed a slew of new orders related to immigration and border security during his first two weeks in office, introducing new ideas such as seeking to end birthright citizenship.
According to Ries, many of Trump's early actions on immigration were aimed at returning to the policies of his first administration. Others, Ries said, were a direct reaction to policies implemented during the previous administration.
TRUMP ADMIN ENDS DEPORTATION PROTECTIONS FOR MASSIVE NUMBER OF VENEZUELANS AMID ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN
"Ending mass parole, ending the CBP mobile one application," Ries used as an example, two policies implemented under Biden that Trump quickly ended upon reentering the White House.
But Ries also argued that Trump has taken a more aggressive approach to the issue than he did when entering office in 2017, noting that some of the orders were not tried in 2017 or are a reaction to a Biden policy.
"Suspending the U.S. refugee admissions program, birthright citizenship… creating a Homeland Security task force in all 50 states for intel and logistics," Ries listed as examples of new ideas brought by Trump in his second term in office.
Ries also noted that Trump took the step of requiring all aliens to register, something allowed under current immigration statutes that will likely help with enforcement.
"We have no idea who is all here, how many people… so requiring them to register with DHS is a smart move," Ries said.
COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT URGES ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN US TO RETURN HOME DAYS AFTER DIPLOMATIC SPAT
Yet there is still more work for Trump to do as he continues his push for reform, Ries argued, including pausing funds for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from the Department of Health and Human Services and the State Department.
Ries also mentioned that Trump could still work to clear the backlog of immigration cases at the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department, where over 13 million combined cases are pending.
"Getting those down to a manageable level year after year, and I had proposed in a report I put out in December that if the backlog gets too high, pausing intake of applications until the backlog gets down to a manageable level."
CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE
"Then the other still needed is more on the unaccompanied alien children front. I think he could declare an emergency regarding the missing children and the sex trafficking," Ries added. "Working to find those kids, but also pursuing the first part of the law that says it should be the policy to return children back to their home country versus bringing them in and giving them immigration benefits."
But Ries also noted there are limitations to what Trump can do through executive action, arguing that Congress will need to "step in" on some issues.
"Congress needs to very quickly, drastically fund increased resources for ICE to continue detaining… ICE needs at least 100,000 beds," Ries said. "Congress also needs to close all the loopholes that the Biden administration exploited if we want long-term integrity around this. Otherwise, the next Democrat president will issue executive orders to undo all this."
