President Trump urged Congress to act as he lamented that U.S. law does not “easily allow” for those entering the U.S. to be deported to their home countries, and made another push to build his long- discussed border wall.
“As ridiculous as it sounds, the laws of our country do not easily allow us to send those crossing our Southern Border back where they came from,” Trump tweeted Monday night. “A whole big wasted procedure must take place. Mexico & Canada have tough immigration laws, whereas ours are an Obama joke. ACT CONGRESS.”
“Honduras, Mexico and many other countries that the U.S. is very generous to, sends many of their people to our country through our WEAK IMMIGRATION POLICIES,” he added in a separate tweet. “Caravans are heading here. Must pass tough laws and build the WALL. Democrats allow open borders, drugs and crime!”
As ridiculous as it sounds, the laws of our country do not easily allow us to send those crossing our Southern Border back where they came from. A whole big wasted procedure must take place. Mexico & Canada have tough immigration laws, whereas ours are an Obama joke. ACT CONGRESS
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2018
Honduras, Mexico and many other countries that the U.S. is very generous to, sends many of their people to our country through our WEAK IMMIGRATION POLICIES. Caravans are heading here. Must pass tough laws and build the WALL. Democrats allow open borders, drugs and crime!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2018
The tweets come hours after senior administration officials said that White House aides and Department of Homeland Security officials are constructing a legislative package designed to eliminate “loopholes” in the immigration system that encourage illegal immigration.
The proposal is designed to scale back restrictions on who can be detained and the period of time they can be detained for by law enforcement.
According to officials, smuggling organizations know the limits imposed on border patrol agents, which allows them to take advantage of the system and prompts more illegal entries.
Earlier Monday and on Sunday, Trump blasted Congress for not taking action on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program,
“These big flows of people are all trying to take advantage of DACA. They want in on the act!” Trump tweeted Sunday after a reports were published claiming that a group from Central America was attempting to enter the U.S.
Although no one from the group would qualify for DACA, which was established under the Obama administration to prevent deportation for undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally as children, the Trump administration maintained that programs like DACA signal to potential illegal immigrants that similar protections down the road.
“When Congress is debating a large grant of a generous immigration benefit, that tends to be a major pull factor for new people to come illegally,” a senior administration official said Monday.
Trump also said over the weekend he would not accept a DACA deal, but administration officials did not explain what he meant by his statement. Trump ordered for DACA to be rescinded in September, but a federal judge blocked the administration to allow the program to remain in place.
As lawmakers have continued to hash out options for the future of DACA, Trump has been irritated that Democrats have pushed back on providing enough funding for his border wall.
