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On Wednesday, the new president said that he has \"deep admiration for the people of Mexico,\" adding that he looks forward to meeting with Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto and that he \"truly\" believes that the U.S. and Mexico can improve relations going forward.

Peña Nieto may cancel a visit with Trump scheduled for next week in response to today's announcement, a Mexican official told ABC News. The Mexican president has been under fire in his country recently for being seen as too accommodating to Trump.

\"PHOTO:
EPA
PHOTO: View of the border fence between the US states of Texas and New Mexico, left, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, right, on Jan. 25, 2017.
>

During his confirmation hearing earlier this month, newly-minted DHS Secretary Gen. John Kelly said that \"a physical barrier in and of itself will not do the job.\"

\"It has to be a layered defense,\" he said, adding that even with a wall extending from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, you would still have to back that wall up with patrolling by human beings, sensors and observation devices, he said.

Border Patrol already employs a \"digital wall\" composed of about 8,000 cameras, which monitor the southern fence and ports of entry. Its resources also include more than 11,000 underground senors, 107 aircraft, eight drones, 175 mobile surveillance units and 84 boats.

“We can spend billions of dollars to build a 10-foot wall on top of a 10,000-foot mountain,” former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said in November, “but if you’ve come all the way from Central America, it’s not going to stop you.”

\"PHOTO:
AFP/Getty Images
PHOTO: View of the border line with the marker between Mexico and the U.S in the community of Sasabe in Sonora state, Mexico, on January 13, 2017.
>

The president predicted Wednesday that his executive orders will \"save thousands of lives, millions of jobs, and billions and billions of dollars.\"

ABC News' Geneva Sands and Jordyn Phelps contributed to this report.

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