President Trump on Monday blasted Democrats who want to reduce the number of detention beds in border security talks, accusing them of wanting to allow immigrants who have committed crimes to roam freely in the U.S.
“These are people who kidnap people,” Trump said while meeting with a group of sheriffs at the White House. “The Democrats want them to come into our society. I don’t think so.”
The president spoke before leaving for a campaign rally in El Paso, Texas, where he plans to press his case for Congress to fund his long-desired wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“We need a wall,” Trump said. “And all of the other things are nice to have, but without a wall it’s not going to work. We can have technology. We can have beautiful drones flying all over the place. But it doesn’t work without the wall.”
Trump is reinserting himself into the debate at a pivotal time for bipartisan talks on Capitol Hill to avoid another government shutdown. Lawmakers have until Friday to complete an agreement to fund roughly a quarter of the federal government.
Trump also lashed out on Monday over Democrats’ insistence that the spending package includes a reduction in the number of detention beds for immigrants caught entering the U.S. illegally, calling them “Crazy!” for their demands.
“The Democrats do not want us to detain, or send back, criminal aliens! This is a brand new demand. Crazy!” Trump tweeted. – READ MORE