Former President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is encouraged by the drop in crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border since President Joe Biden took office, but he warned that immigrants are still coming into the country at high rates and will soon overwhelm the nation’s social services. “The numbers are way down but people are coming in — many!,” Trump said in an emailed statement. “Our Country is being destroyed!” A day earlier, Trump issued a statement claiming that Vice President Kamala Harris, who is leading the Biden administration’s response to the border situation, was ignoring the problem. “Kamala Harris’s destructive assignment was to handle the border … but she’s failing to solve the problem.” Harris was tapped more than two months ago to lead the administration’s efforts to address the root causes of migration from Central America. Harris’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “We have to complete the border wall, which can be done in a matter of weeks — they should finish the wall,” Trump said, referring to the barrier he began but never completed while in office. Biden halted construction of the wall when he took over the presidency earlier this year — a move that Trump has criticized. The former president spoke in reaction to the latest U.S. government data, which shows the number of unauthorized border crossings fell in April for the first time this year, the Associated Press reported earlier this week. The 156,000 arrests at the border that month were down 5% from 164,000 in March. Federal agencies have expelled most border crossers under pandemic-related powers introduced by former President Donald Trump, but children traveling alone are exempt and are permitted to stay in the country while their deportation cases are decided. Meanwhile, more than 100,000 people traveling in families and children traveling alone have arrived at the U.S. border with Mexico in recent months, overwhelming immigration authorities and leaving Biden struggling with how to address the situation. Trump’s critiques have come in response to the Biden administration’s efforts to undo some of his hard-line policies at the border, including ending a rule that required asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while their cases were processed, and halting a program that obligated migrants to wait in Mexico for their immigration court hearings. The Biden administration has instead emphasized investments in Central America in an effort to address the root causes of migration. It has also scrambled to find space for the growing number of children entering the country without their parents. At a White House press briefing last month, Harris acknowledged that the situation at the border was “challenging.” Biden has said his administration is trying to quickly reunite children with family members in the U.S. and find sponsors to care for them while they await their immigration court hearings. The president has also made clear he intends to address the root causes of migration, including poverty, violence, and corruption in Central America. He has proposed billions in aid to the region to tackle those problems in the hopes of preventing people from leaving their homes in the first place. Kelly Turlington, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said that the administration “takes seriously its responsibility to ensure that the United States remains a place of refuge.” “We also remain committed to strengthening our immigration system and creating a safe and dignified process for people who have legal claims to remain in the United States,” Turlington said in an emailed statement.
Some Republicans distance themselves from Trump’s attack on Harris as ‘mentally disabled’
Former President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is encouraged by the drop in crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border since President Joe Biden took office, but he warned that immigrants are still coming into the country at high rates and will soon overwhelm the nation’s social services. “The numbers are way down but people are coming in — many!,” Trump said in an emailed statement. “Our Country is being destroyed!” A day earlier, Trump issued a statement claiming that Vice President Kamala Harris, who is leading the Biden administration’s response to the border situation, was ignoring the problem. “Kamala Harris’s destructive assignment was to handle the border … but she’s failing to solve the problem.” Harris was tapped more than two months ago to lead the administration’s efforts to address the root causes of migration from Central America. Harris’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “We have to complete the border wall, which can be done in a matter of weeks — they should finish the wall,” Trump said, referring to the barrier he began but never completed while in office. Biden halted construction of the wall when he took over the presidency earlier this year — a move that Trump has criticized. The former president spoke in reaction to the latest U.S. government data, which shows the number of unauthorized border crossings fell in April for the first time this year, the Associated Press reported earlier this week. The 156,000 arrests at the border that month were down 5% from 164,000 in March. Federal agencies have expelled most border crossers under pandemic-related powers introduced by former President Donald Trump, but children traveling alone are exempt and are permitted to stay in the country while their deportation cases are decided. Meanwhile, more than 100,000 people traveling in families and children traveling alone have arrived at the U.S. border with Mexico in recent months, overwhelming immigration authorities and leaving Biden struggling with how to address the situation. Trump’s critiques have come in response to the Biden administration’s efforts to undo some of his hard-line policies at the border, including ending a rule that required asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while their cases were processed, and halting a program that obligated migrants to wait in Mexico for their immigration court hearings. The Biden administration has instead emphasized investments in Central America in an effort to address the root causes of migration. It has also scrambled to find space for the growing number of children entering the country without their parents. At a White House press briefing last month, Harris acknowledged that the situation at the border was “challenging.” Biden has said his administration is trying to quickly reunite children with family members in the U.S. and find sponsors to care for them while they await their immigration court hearings. The president has also made clear he intends to address the root causes of migration, including poverty, violence, and corruption in Central America. He has proposed billions in aid to the region to tackle those problems in the hopes of preventing people from leaving their homes in the first place. Kelly Turlington, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said that the administration “takes seriously its responsibility to ensure that the United States remains a place of refuge.” “We also remain committed to strengthening our immigration system and creating a safe and dignified process for people who have legal claims to remain in the United States,” Turlington said in an emailed statement.