10 things you need to know today: January 26, 2017

Trump signs order to start building border wall, the Dow breaks the 20,000 barrier, and more

President Donald Trump speaks in Washington, D.C.
(Image credit: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

1. Trump signs order to start building Mexico border wall

President Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order calling for "immediate construction of a physical wall" on the Mexican border, a key component in his promised immigration crackdown. He said the project would start within months with taxpayer money, and later he would focus on making Mexico pay for it, as he promised in his campaign. Trump signed another order sharply cutting the number of refugees to be welcomed into the U.S., and temporarily blocking entry by Syrians and others from "terror prone" countries. He also targeted funding for so-called sanctuary cities that have refused to cooperate with immigration officials.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.