Donald Trump blamed Mexico for his decision to deploy 750 agents at the Southern Border’s Ports of Entry to the U.S.
The President’s late night tweets on immigration came after he insisted that illegal crossings must be stopped as he inspected a refurbished section of fencing at the Mexican border.
He tweeted on Saturday night: ‘We have redeployed 750 agents at the Southern Border’s specific Ports of Entry in order to help with the large scale surge of illegal migrants trying to make their way into the United States.
Donald Trump, (pictured) blamed Mexico for his decision to deploy 750 agents at the Southern Border’s Ports of Entry to the U.S.
‘This will cause traffic & commercial delays until such time as Mexico is able to use it’s powerful common sense Immigration Laws to stop illegals from coming through Mexico into the U.S., and removing them back to their country of origin.’
Trump gave a a briefing on immigration and border security in Calexico before viewing a 2-mile see-through steel-slat barrier that was a long-planned replacement for an older barrier – and not new wall.
‘There is indeed an emergency on our southern border,’ Trump said at the briefing, adding that there has been a sharp uptick in illegal crossings.
‘It’s a colossal surge and it’s overwhelming our immigration system, and we can’t let that happen. … We can’t take you anymore. We can’t take you. Our country is full.”
As Air Force One touched down in the state, California and 19 other states that are suing Trump over his emergency declaration to build a border wall requested a court order to stop money from being diverted to fund the project.
But Trump, who ratcheted up his hard-line immigration rhetoric in recent weeks, declared that his move, which included vetoing a congressional vote, was necessary.
And he reiterated those views on Saturday night, by declaring on Twitter: ‘In the meantime, the Democrats in Congress must help the Republicans (we need their votes) to end the horrible, costly and foolish loopholes in our Immigration Laws.
The President’s tweets on illegal immigration came after he insisted that illegal crossings must be stopped as he inspected a refurbished section of fencing at the Mexican border
Trump gave a a briefing on immigration and border security in Calexico before viewing a 2-mile see-through steel-slat barrier that was a long-planned replacement for an older barrier
House Democrats filed a lawsuit preventing Trump from spending more money than Congress has approved to erect barriers along the southwestern border
‘Once that happens, all will be smooth. We can NEVER allow Open Borders!.’
House Democrats filed a lawsuit preventing Trump from spending more money than Congress has approved to erect barriers along the southwestern border.
Congress approved just under $1.4 billion for work on border barricades. Trump has asserted he can use his powers as chief executive to transfer an additional $6.7 billion to wall construction.
Trump, who earlier in the week threatened to shut down the border over the high numbers of migrants trying to enter the U.S., appeared to walk back his comments Thursday.
He said Friday that it was because Mexico had gotten tougher in stopping an influx of immigrants from moving north.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he visits the U.S.-Mexico border with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy
A Mexican federal police member stands guard during the visit of U.S. President Donald Trump to Calexico on Friday
‘Mexico has been absolutely terrific for the last four days,’ the president said as he left the White House.
‘I never changed my mind at all. I may shut it down at some point.’
The president’s visit came a day after he withdrew his nominee to lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Longtime border official Ron Vitiello appeared to be cruising toward confirmation, but Trump said Friday that he wanted to go in a “tougher direction.”
Arrests along the southern border have skyrocketed in recent months, and border agents were on track to make 100,000 arrests or denials of entry in March, a 12-year high. More than half of those are families with children, who require extra care.
A group of about 30 Brazilian migrants, who had just crossed the border, sit on the ground near US Border Patrol agents on the US-Mexico border in Sunland Park, New Mexico
Residents of Anapra, a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez in Mexico, gather next to the border fence during a prayer with priests and bishops from Mexico in February
Central American migrants queue at a warehouse used as a shelter in Piedras Negras, Coahuila state, Mexico in February
The southern border is nearly 2,000 miles long and already has about 650 miles of different types of barriers, including short vehicle barricades and tall steel fences that go up to 30 feet high.
Most of the fencing was built during George W. Bush’s administration, and there have been updates and maintenance throughout other administrations.
Trump has yet to complete any new mileage of fencing or other barriers anywhere on the border, though he declared Friday that at least 400 miles (650 kilometers) of the border barrier would be erected over the next two years.
While most illegal border-crossers used to be single Mexican nationals coming to the U.S. in search of work, more than half are now parents and children who have traveled from Central America to seek refuge in the U.S.
Those families, along with unaccompanied children, are subject to specific laws and court settlements that prevent them from being immediately sent back to their home countries.
Immigrant processing and holding centers have been overwhelmed, forcing officials to dramatically expand a practice Trump has long mocked as “catch and release.”
Indeed, ICE has set free more than 125,000 people who came into the U.S. as families since late last year and is now busing people hundreds of miles inland, releasing them at Greyhound stations and churches in cities like Albuquerque, San Antonio and Phoenix because towns close to the border already have more than they can handle.