Donald Trump took to Twitter on Martin Luther King Jr Day to demand that Democrats approve billions of dollars for a ‘powerful’ border wall that he says will limit crimes by illegal immigrants.
As the longest government shutdown in history enters its second month, the President tweeted: ‘Four people in Nevada viciously robbed and killed by an illegal immigrant who should not have been in our Country. 26 people killed on the Border in a drug and gang related fight.
‘Two large Caravans from Honduras broke into Mexico and are headed our way.
‘We need a powerful Wall!’
President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Martin Luther King Jr Day to demand that Democrats approve billions of dollars for a ‘powerful’ border wall that he says will limit crimes by illegal immigrants
‘Stop playing games and give America the Security it deserves,’ Trump demanded, ending his tweet with: ‘A Humanitarian Crisis!’
A few minutes later, Trump tweeted: ‘Democrats are kidding themselves (they don’t really believe it!) if they say you can stop Crime, Drugs, Human Trafficking and Caravans without a Wall or Steel Barrier.
‘Stop playing games and give America the Security it deserves.
‘A Humanitarian Crisis!’
Trump was referring to a report about an arrest made by Nevada authorities in connection with the alleged murders of four people.
Wilbur Martinez-Guzman, 19, was arrested on Saturday in the state capital of Carson City.
Wilbur Martinez-Guzman, 19, was arrested on Saturday in the state capital of Carson City
Authorities anticipate indicting Martinez-Guzman, who is believed to be in the country illegally, for the murders of four people earlier this month, according to Reno Gazette Journal.
Martinez-Guzman is believed to be connected to a string of murders. On January 10, Connie Koontz, 56, was found dead inside her home in Gardnerville Ranchos.
Three days later, Sophia Renken, 74, was found dead in her home a mile away.
Last week, Jerry David, 81, and his wife, Sherri, 80, were found dead after they were fatally shot in their home in South Reno.
Martinez-Guzman has been booked on charges related to burglary, possession of stolen property, and alleged violations of immigration laws.
Federal immigration authorities informed local law enforcement in Carson City that Martinez-Guzman was in Nevada for about a year despite not having documented status.
Trump’s reference in the tweet to ‘26 people killed on the border’ appears to be related to old news stories about gang violence near the U.S.-Mexico border.
There are no recent news stories indicating violence on that scale so close to the border.
Murders in Mexico rose by 33 percent in 2018, breaking the record for a second year running, official data showed, underlining the task facing the new president who has pledged to reduce violence in the cartel-ravaged country.
Authorities anticipate indicting Martinez-Guzman, who is believed to be in the country illegally, for the murders of four people earlier this month. Last week, Jerry David, 81, and his wife, Sherri, 80, were found dead after they were fatally shot in their home in South Reno
Investigators opened to 33,341 murder probes compared with the previous year’s record of 25,036, according to information from the Interior Ministry published on Sunday.
Mexico has struggled with years of violence as the government has battled brutal drug cartels, often by taking out their leaders. That has resulted in fragmentation of gangs and increasingly vicious internecine fighting.
Trump’s tweet also made mention of a caravan from Central America that is moving into Mexico.
Mexico’s National Migration Institute said on Thursday that 969 migrants from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua had crossed into Ciudad Hidalgo.
Last Monday a massive group of 376 migrants – including 200 minors – squeezed past a 12-foot border fence near Yuma, Arizona by burrowing through tiny holes dug under the old barrier.
The Border Patrol has said that smugglers transport large groups to the border and then instruct them to cross and turn themselves in.
The migrants ‘inundated agents’ as they poured in one after one through the tiny crawl space and surrendered to Border Patrol to request asylum.
Trump’s tweet also made mention of a caravan from Central America that is moving into Mexico. Mexico’s National Migration Institute said on Thursday that 969 migrants from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua had crossed into Ciudad Hidalgo
Customs and Border Protection said 200 of the group were minors, and that nearly all the rest said they were their parents, meaning that they will likely be released into the U.S. as their asylum claims are processed.
Officials said that most of the group entered the U.S. through seven small openings burrowed under the border barrier.
The crossings took place at a remote stretch of border where old fencing is about 12 feet high and the ground is sandy.
Stretched thin, CBP has only three agents patrolling the 26-mile section of border.
Last Wednesday, a separate group of 247 people illegally crossed into the U.S. near the Antelope Wells Port of Entry in New Mexico.
The issue of border security is the main bone of contention between Trump and Democrats, resulting in a month-long partial shutdown of the federal government.
About one-quarter of the U.S. government has been shuttered since December 22 over Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion to fund a wall along the border with Mexico, which Democrats have refused to consider.
The promise of a border wall was a mainstay of Trump’s 2016 presidential election campaign. As a candidate, he said Mexico would pay for the barrier, but the Mexican government has refused.