Executive Order 13768 titled Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States was signed by U.S. President Donald Trump on January 25, 2017. The order stated that "sanctuary jurisdictions" including sanctuary cities that refused to comply with immigration enforcement measures would not be "eligible to receive Federal grants, except as deemed necessary for law enforcement purposes" by the U.S. Attorney General or Secretary of Homeland Security.

Legal challenges to the order were brought almost immediately after its issuance by San Francisco (supported by the State of California) and a number of other cities and counties. In late April 2017, a federal court issued a nationwide preliminary injunction halting enforcement of the executive order, determining that the localities were likely to succeed on the merits of their challenge.

On November 21, 2017, section 9(a) of the executive order was declared unconstitutional by Judge William Orrick III, who issued a nationwide permanent injunction against its implementation. The executive order was rescinded by President Joe Biden on January 20, 2021.

During his campaign, Trump proposed the mass deportation of illegal immigrants as part of his immigration policy. Jeff Sessions was confirmed on February 7 as Attorney General. Among his first statements, Sessions claimed that, "We need to end this lawlessness that threatens the public safety, pulls down the wages of working Americans."

On August 31, 2016 Trump laid out a 10-step plan as part of his immigration policy where he reiterated that all illegal immigrants are subject to deportation with priority given to illegal immigrants who have committed significant crimes and those who have overstayed visas. He noted that all those seeking legalization would have to go home and re-enter the country legally.

On February 8, 2017, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested 36-year-old Guadalupe García de Rayos, when she attended her required annual review at the ICE office in Phoenix, and deported her to Mexico the next day based on a removal order issued in 2013 by the Executive Office for Immigration Review. The arrest prompted protests from her family and others Immigrant advocates believe that she is one of the first to be deported after the EO was signed and that her case reflects the severity of the crackdown on illegal immigration. ICE officials said that proceedings in Immigration Court had resulted in a finding that she did not have a legal basis to remain in the US. In 2008, she was working at an amusement park in Mesa, Arizona when then-Sheriff Joe Arpaio ordered a raid that resulted in her arrest and felony identity theft conviction for possessing a false Social Security number.

Section 5 of the order prioritizes removal of aliens who "have been convicted of any criminal offense; have been charged with any criminal offense, where such charge has not been resolved; have committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense; have engaged in fraud or willful misrepresentation in connection with any official matter or application before a governmental agency; have abused any program related to receipt of public benefits; are subject to a final order of removal, but who have not complied with their legal obligation to depart the United States; or in the judgment of an immigration officer, otherwise pose a risk to public safety or national security."

This provision of the executive order greatly expands the category of people classified as "priorities for removal," making all aliens who have been charged with a crime, or believed could have been charged with a crime, priorities for deportation. The order expands to even those convicted of minor crimes, such as traffic offenses. This marks a change from the Obama administration, which placed the highest priority for deportation on aliens who had been convicted of serious crimes.