President Donald Trump reportedly instructed border agents to stop all migrants from entering the United States after he declared that "our country is full" during a visit to Calexico, Calfornia last week.
“This is our new statement- the system is full,” Trump proclaimed on Friday. “We can’t take you anymore. Whether it’s 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. Can’t take you anymore, I’m sorry. Turn around. That’s the way it is.”
CNN's Jake Tapper said Monday that two sources revealed to him that Trump tried to pressure them into blocking anyone from crossing the border.
"Tell them we don't have the capacity," Trump allegedly said to the agents. Trump also encouraged agents to defy the courts, adding that if "judges give you trouble, say, sorry judge, I can't do it, we don't have the room."
Sources told Tapper that after Trump left the room, the president's homeland security chiefs explained to the agents that they had to follow the law, which Trump ordered them to break.
Furthermore, over the last four months, Trump has "been pushing his administration to enforce a stricter and more widespread family separation policy," even though Trump last summer signed an executive order ending the cruel practice.
Now, however, Trump "wants an expanded version of this policy," Tapper reported, even if families "come in at a legal port of entry... are legal asylum seekers... even if they are apprehending within the United States."
Seeking asylum in the United States is legal and must be allowed, per international law.
Administration officials informed Tapper that prior to her ouster on Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, along with Health & Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, refused to comply with Trump's demands because of the various legal constraints. Others tried to explain to Trump that ripping families apart - again - would be an "unmitigated PR disaster."
Trump "just wants to separate families," one senior administration official told Tapper.
Trump's lawlessness is escalating.
Are people surprised though?
So much for the "law and order" candidate.
On Monday it was reported that White House aide Stephen Miller, an outspoken white nationalist, is now overseeing the administration's immigration policies.
Thus, people are concerned about what might be coming down the road.
Every day we stray further from being the shining city on the hill.