US President Trump has said he is willing to shut down the government if the Democratic Party doesn’t support the government’s proposal on border security including the wall.
Trump has called to end the lottery system, catch & release and other such systems in place. He has called for putting in place an immigration system that allows people into the US based on their merit.
“We need great people coming into our Country!” Trump tweeted.
Trump started voicing his ‘will shut down government’ slogal after meeting at the White House last week with House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to discuss the fall legislative agenda.
Trump campaigned on the promise of building a border wall to deter illegal immigration and making Mexico pay for it. Mexico has refused.
Congress has given the president some wall funding but far from the $25 billion he has requested. Trump wants changes to legal immigration, including scrapping a visa lottery program. In addition, he wants to end the practice of releasing immigrants caught entering the country illegally on the condition that they show up for court hearings. Trump has also demanded that the U.S. shift to an immigration system based more on merit and less on family ties.
Democrats and some Republicans have objected to some of the changes Trump seeks.
Trump would be taking a political risk if he does allow most government functions to lapse on Oct. 1 _ the first day of the new budget year _ roughly a month before the Nov. 6 elections, when Republican control of both the House and Senate is at stake. Some Republican lawmakers doubted the government would be forced to shut down.
Trump also tweeted on Sunday that there are “consequences when people cross our Border illegally” and claimed many who do so are “using children for their own sinister purposes.”
Trump’s tweet came several days after the government said more than 1,800 children separated at the U.S.-Mexico border under Trump’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy have been reunited with parents and sponsors. A federal judge had ordered the reunions to be completed by last Thursday, but hundreds of children remain separated. The administration says some of their parents have criminal histories.
“Please understand, there are consequences when people cross our Border illegally, whether they have children or not – and many are just using children for their own sinister purposes,” Trump said.
