Stephanie Liebergen
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LEARN MOREPosted: 2:43 p.m. EST Feb 9, 2017
"I'm signing three executive actions today designed to restore safety in America," President Donald Trump said during an announcement in the Oval Office.
The three new executive orders were signed as part of the swearing in ceremony for new U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
The first takes aim at drug cartels and human trafficking. The order calls for law enforcement agencies to make dismantling cartels a high priority by using stronger enforcement of existing federal laws.
In the announcement, Trump said, "I am directing the Department of Justice and Homeland Security to undertake all necessary and lawful action to break the back of the criminal cartels that have spread across our nation and are destroying the blood of our youth."
The second order creates a task force aimed at reducing crime and improving public safety. The task force, which will be chosen by Sessions, will develop strategies to reduce crime. That could include proposing new legislation.
The last order calls on the Department of Justice to examine current federal laws that apply to crimes against law enforcement officials. The mandate also opens the door for legislation that would define new crimes against law enforcement, complete with new mandatory minimum sentences.
During his presidential campaign, Trump pledged to do more to support law enforcement.
"The fact is, they do an incredible job. We have to give them more authority, and we have to give them far more respect," Trump said in a campaign video.
The three executive orders also come just one day after Trump held what the administration calls a listening session with county sheriffs from around the nation.
