Trump Remains Defiant on Immigration: 'We Must Always Arrest Illegals'
President Donald Trump waded once again into the debate over America’s Southern Border on Tuesday with a forthright defense of his tough policy to stop illegal immigration.
Early Tuesday, Trump took to Twitter to respond to critics who are upset over the separation of parents and children, a policy that has been in practice for about 20 years.
“If you don’t have Borders, you don’t have a Country!” Trump tweeted. “Democrats are the problem. They don’t care about crime and want illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our Country, like MS-13. They can’t win on their terrible policies, so they view them as potential voters!”
If you don’t have Borders, you don’t have a Country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 19, 2018
Trump said America must be protected.
“We must always arrest people coming into our Country illegally. Of the 12,000 children, 10,000 are being sent by their parents on a very dangerous trip, and only 2000 are with their parents, many of whom have tried to enter our Country illegally on numerous occasions,” he said, before calling for action from Congress. “Now is the best opportunity ever for Congress to change the ridiculous and obsolete laws on immigration. Get it done, always keeping in mind that we must have strong border security.”
We must always arrest people coming into our Country illegally. Of the 12,000 children, 10,000 are being sent by their parents on a very dangerous trip, and only 2000 are with their parents, many of whom have tried to enter our Country illegally on numerous occasions.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 19, 2018
Trump also touched on the immigration debate during remarks to the National Federation of Independent Businesses. Trump momentarily set aside his prepared remarks about the nation’s economic growth to first discuss immigration, as reported by the White House pool.
Trump began by noting that “the illegal immigration crisis on our southern border” has “been going on for many, many decades and many years.”
“Because as a result of Democrat-supported loopholes in our federal laws, most illegal immigrant families and minors from Central America who arrive unlawfully at the border cannot be detained together or removed together, only released. These are crippling loopholes that cause family separation, which we don’t want,” he said, noting that “roughly half a million illegal immigrant family units and minors from Central America have been released into the United States since 2014 at unbelievably great taxpayer expense.”
Trump targeted two specific groups in his speech — child smugglers and Mexico.
“Mexico does nothing for us. You hear it here: They do nothing for us. They could stop it. They have very, very strong laws. Try staying in Mexico for a couple of days. See how long that lasts. OK?” Trump said.
Trump said child smuggling is “the worst it’s been in history — because the Internet has led to this. … Since last year, child smugglers — who are very, very sophisticated — they’ve learned the loopholes in this horrible, rotten system …”
Trump said he will not cave in to demands to hire more judges to process cases, and instead will keep making the border stronger.
“Thousands and thousands of judges they want to hire. Who are these people? When we vet a single federal judge, it goes through a big process. Everybody that’s ever met her or him — they come, they complain, they don’t complain. They say he’s brilliant; she’s brilliant; he’s not smart enough to be a judge. Now we’re hiring thousands and thousands. What country does this? Judges. I won’t say it. I refuse to say it. I hope they picked that up back there. They won’t.”
“We want a great country,” Trump said finally. “We want a country with heart. But when people come up, they have to know they can’t get in, otherwise it’s never going to stop.”
“But politically correct or not, we have a country that needs security, that needs safety, that has to be protected.”
Trump’s speech preceded meetings with House Republicans, who are hoping to pass immigration reform bills this week, CNN reported.
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