Category Archives: US immigration

Donald Trump fuels immigration fears in TV address on ‘border crisis’

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President offers no new solutions to government shutdown in first Oval Office address of his presidency

Donald Trump has used the first Oval Office address of his presidency to stoke fears of illegal immigration, repeat dubious claims about his border wall and offer no new solutions to the partial government shutdown.

In the type of made-for-TV-moment he relishes, the US president blamed criminal gangs and “vast quantities of illegal drugs” for “thousands of deaths” and faulted Democrats for failing to end the shutdown, now in its 18th day. Democrats accused him of fear-mongering.

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‘How much more American blood must we shed?’ says Trump in Oval speech – video

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US president Donald Trump uses a primetime address on Tuesday to tell Americans he needs billions of dollars from Congress for his long-promised border wall to keep out drugs, gangs and human traffickers. In an Oval Office address, he says there is a 'growing humanitarian and security crisis' at the US-Mexico border, though crossings have fallen in recent years. He claims the wall will pay for itself via a new trade deal with Mexico and asks: 'How much more American blood must we shed before Congress does its job?'

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Six key things to know about Trump’s border wall speech

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Fact check: what the US president got wrong in his primetime address on the border wall

In a primetime address from the Oval Office on Tuesday night, Donald Trump made his case for the US to expand its wall on the southern border.

The US president blamed criminal gangs and “vast quantities of illegal drugs” for “thousands of deaths”, described the situation at the border with Mexico as a humanitarian crisis and argued that the current immigration system allows “vicious coyotes and ruthless gangs” to prey on immigrants, especially women and children.

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Trump threatens national emergency in ‘next few days’ over wall and shutdown

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Donald Trump said on Sunday he may declare a national emergency over immigration, to allow him to build a wall on America’s southern border.

Related: Is Mitt Romney the man to lead a Republican rebellion against Trump?

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Trump tweets ‘not much headway’ on shutdown as key services threatened

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Saturday was day 15 of a partial government shutdown that Donald Trump said could go on for months or years, if he is not given funding for a wall on the Mexican border. As new talks were held without result, potentially devastating effects of the shutdown were coming into focus.

Related: Shutdown over border wall is crucial test for Trump's presidency

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‘The US can’t dump people in Mexico’: Trump asylum policy in doubt

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Head of immigration authority says Mexico has ‘asked for answers’ on ‘catch and return’ – but shutdown isn’t helping

When she announced last month that tens of thousands of asylum seekers would be returned to Mexico while their cases are considered, the homeland security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, described the move as a “historic” overhaul of US immigration policy.

But more than two weeks later, the new strategy has yet to begin and it remains unclear how the plan would work – or even if Mexico is willing to enforce it.

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Trump is staking his presidency on the shutdown and his wall

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As the shutdown’s toll becomes clearer, the president aims to keep his pledge – but Democrats have reason to resist

There are two chants that everyone remembers from Donald Trump’s campaign rallies. One is “Lock her up!”, aimed at Hillary Clinton, a demand not likely to be met unless America becomes a banana republic. The other is “build that wall!”

It is now crunch time for this central, defining promise of the Trump candidacy and “make America great again” movement. The US president says he will not support a bill to fully fund the government until he secures $5.6bn for a wall on the US-Mexico border.

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