The stories you want. The opinions that matter.
No, thanks
Tag: us mexico border
At Southern Border, Trump Delivers Another Angry Anti-Immigrant Rant

At Southern Border, Trump Delivers Another Angry Anti-Immigrant Rant

Trump’s attacks on Central American migrants fleeing violence in their countries continued on Friday, when he falsely claimed that the United States is full and can no longer accept immigrants.

“The system is full. We can’t take you anymore,” Trump said. “Whether it’s asylum. Whether it’s anything you want. It’s illegal immigration. Can’t take you anymore. We can’t take you. Our country is full. Our area is full. Our sector is full. We can’t take you anymore, I’m sorry. So turn around. That’s the way it is.”

Trump made the remarks during a roundtable with Border Patrol officials in an area of California located on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump was visiting the specific area to hold a photo shoot in front of a segment of border fencing that already existed for years but that was rebuilt during Trump’s presidency. Trump’s own Homeland Security secretary admitted the visit was a stunt.

Yet Trump made the most of the stunt, spewing false comments about immigration, as well as vile and racist comments about migrants.

The U.S. is far from full. According to the most recent census, 47 percent of land in the United States is unoccupied. Not to mention, companies have struggled to find workers for jobs, meaning there is a need for more people in this country, unlike what Trump suggested.

But Trump’s racist hatred of brown people is fueling his anti-immigrant policy agenda.

At the Friday event, he shamelessly accused all migrants coming to the U.S. of being gang members.

“I look at some of these asylum people, they’re gang members,” Trump said. “They’re not afraid of anything. They have lawyers greeting them. They read what lawyers tell them to read, the lawyer tells them what to read, they’re gang members. And they say, ‘I fear for my life.’ They’re the ones causing fear for life. It’s a scam, ok, it’s a scam. It’s a hoax.”

There is no factual basis to say that every single migrant seeking asylum in the U.S. is a gang member. That’s just patently absurd. Yet Trump is pushing that racist theory to scare his racist base in the hopes that they stick with him in the 2020 election.

Unfortunately for Trump, he already tried this gross strategy in the 2018 midterms, using Fox News — a.k.a. state television — to fear monger and gin up Republican votes.

However, that strategy failed miserably in 2018.

And there are no signs to say the failed strategy will work again roughly two years from now.

Published with permission of The American Independent.

 

Trump Threatens To Close Southern Border — At A Cost Of Billions

Trump Threatens To Close Southern Border — At A Cost Of Billions

Trump had a tantrum on Friday that could cost American businesses billions of dollars in lost revenue.

As part of his continuing obsession and frustration with the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump renewed the threat made the night before that he would “close” the border.

“If Mexico doesn’t immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States throug (sic) our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week,” he ranted.

Trump apparently liked the applause that line received amongst his most devoted fans at his Michigan rally.

But in the real world, closing the border would severely hurt American businesses and the negative effects of doing so would ripple out to families across the nation. Not that Trump cares, since he’s made similar actions before.

Nearly $42 billion dollars in trade pass through the U.S.-Mexico border each month, which would be put in serious jeopardy by Trump’s incomprehensible action.

Much of that would hurt states that backed Trump in 2016, with nearly $18 billion of U.S.-Mexico trade going to Texas, and another $5 billion going to Michigan, along with billions to Ohio, Tennessee, Louisiana, and North Carolina.

A temporary closure of the border in November cost the city of San Ysidro $5.3 million.

“Every time, with respect, that there is a flippant comment about shutting down the border, it impacts the economy and the lives of hundreds of thousands if not millions of people that are reliant on that trade and commerce on a daily basis,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), slamming Trump.

Democrats have led the fight against Trump wasting billions on a racist wall, frustrating him over and over. He lost the fight over shutting down the federal government for the wall and has been criticized for efforts to raid money owed to the military to waste on the wall.

Frustration has led to another tantrum and this one — if he follows through — is a direct threat to American businesses and families.

Trump’s continued political impotence is a sore spot for him and he can’t figure a way out of the hole he dug for himself.

Published with permission of The American Independent.

IMAGE: A man walks near the border bridge connecting El Paso with Ciudad Juarez, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, February 24, 2016. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez