President Donald Trump delivered a “new statement” to immigrants on Friday in California: “we can’t take you anymore, our country is full.”
“It’s a colossal surge and it’s overwhelming our immigration system, and we can’t let that happen… Whether it is asylum or anything you want, illegal immigration, we can’t take you anymore. Our country is full. Our area is full. The sector is full. We can’t take you anymore. Sorry, can’t happen. So turn around, that’s the way it is,” Trump said at the border security roundtable in Calexico, California.
The statements the president made on border security were in line with the heightened urgency he has given the issue in the past few weeks. He complimented Mexico in a new twist after he threatened to shut down the border earlier in the week due to the volume of migrants trying to enter the U.S and later threatening new tariffs against Mexico if they do not increase efforts to secure the border.
“Mexico has been absolutely terrific in the past four days.” Trump said. “They’re apprehending everybody. Yesterday they apprehended 1,400 people. The day before it was a thousand. And if they apprehend people at their southern border, that’s a big home run.”
On Trump’s visit to Calexico late last week, he toured a 30-foot tall and 2 mile wide section of replacement border fence that was installed last year. It was the first major replacement to occur on the border since Trump took office.
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On Friday, House Democrats also filed a lawsuit to stop Trump from spending more than the $1.4 billion Congress approved for work on the border wall. On Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a motion with similar goals to block more border funding.
Trump continues to insist on more wall funding. “We’re building a lot of wall… We have a lot of things happening,” he said. “And we expect to have close to 400 miles done within about two years from now. That’s a lot. Four hundred miles will cover most of it.”
