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Montevideo, March 19th 2024 - 08:31 UTC

 

 

Trump campaigns for The Wall, steel or concrete, along the Mexican border

Friday, January 11th 2019 - 12:43 UTC
Full article 8 comments
Despite the presidential rhetoric, widely respected studies show that illegal immigrants commit fewer crimes than people born in the United States Despite the presidential rhetoric, widely respected studies show that illegal immigrants commit fewer crimes than people born in the United States
“They just go where there's no security and you don't even know the difference between Mexico and the United States,” Trump told border patrol officers “They just go where there's no security and you don't even know the difference between Mexico and the United States,” Trump told border patrol officers

President Donald Trump warned of murderers and gangsters spreading across the country during a visit to the US-Mexican border on Thursday to push his demand for a multi-billion dollar wall. Trump used the backdrop of the Rio Grande border river at McAllen, Texas, to ramp up what has already turned into a hugely messy political fight with Democratic opponents, resulting in the shutdown of swaths of the US government.

With typical rhetoric Trump said that only building more walls along the Mexican border could stop an onslaught of violent crime.

“They just go where there's no security and you don't even know the difference between Mexico and the United States,” he told a meeting of border patrol officers. “They have women tied up, they have tape over their mouths, electrical tape.”

“If we had a barrier of any kind, a powerful barrier, whether it's steel or concrete ... we would stop it cold,” Trump said.

Opposition Democrats are refusing to approve US$5.7 billion in wall funding, saying that overwhelming numbers of illegal immigrants do not commit serious crimes and that Trump is mainly promoting the project to satisfy his right-wing base.

Trump said that illegal immigrant crime stretched right up into the north of the country. However, widely respected studies show that illegal immigrants commit fewer crimes than people born in the United States.

Trump's main way of pressuring Congress has been to refuse to sign off on a host of unrelated, normally uncontroversial, government spending until he gets his wall funded.

That has resulted in a partial government shutdown now in its 20th day, with hundreds of thousands of federal employees - including air traffic controllers, the FBI and Coast Guard - going without pay.

Signaling he's ready to maintain the game of brinksmanship, Trump tweeted on arrival in Texas that he will scrap a visit to the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, which runs from Jan 21 to 25.

Trump had been expected to make a brief appearance at the influential get-together, attended by many world leaders, but said that opposition Democratic “intransigence” required him to stay home.

Trump said he was ready to expand the debate over funding for a border wall to some of the other issues surrounding the over-burdened US immigration system - a suggestion that could open the door to working with Democrats.

“I would like to do a much broader form of immigration,” he said in Texas.

But throughout the day, the frustrated president also repeated his threat to declare a national emergency and give himself authority to go around Congress if he can't get approval for the wall. “If I have to, I will. I have no doubt about it.”

Analysts say the declaration would likely be challenged in court as a case of presidential overreach, in which case the wall still could face being blocked.

Top Comments

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  • Little J

    No doubt the USA has a President, as I've already mentioned previously, who is like a 3 year old child, who throws a tantrum when it does'nt get what it wants.

    What isn't taken into account by this person is the damage he is causing those whose pay-checks have been delayed, which of course he does'nt give a fig about, anyway.

    After all he has plenty of funds to fall back on, even if he's not paid his salary. One problem that he could face in this respect is the dubious origin of these funds.

    Hopefully this will be the case before long and then we could all give a sigh of relief and say
    BY BY Mr. Trump...........good ridense to bad rubbish.

    Jan 12th, 2019 - 02:39 pm +1
  • Chicureo

    To repeat an earlier comparison, President Trump is ruthlessly negotiating like Joachim von Ribbentrop against the modern day Democrat leadership equivalent to Neville Chamberlain. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are fighting a battle that they will eventually lose as their adversary is already running for the 2020 election and his strategy is to reignite his voter base.

    He'll force them to cave in or declare a national emergency, but he will win.

    Jan 11th, 2019 - 03:00 pm 0
  • DemonTree

    They've already held out longer than the Repubs did under Obama or Clinton.

    Let him get the money from Mexico if he wants a wall. That's what he promised.

    Jan 12th, 2019 - 11:34 am 0
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