President Donald Trump put the blame for the drowning of a man and his toddler daughter at the southern border squarely on the shoulders of Democrats, who he said must take action to change immigration laws. Trump made the statement Wednesday while at the G20 Summit in Japan.
“I hate it,” Trump said after seeing the photo of bodies of Óscar Alberto MartÃnez RamÃrez and his almost 2-year-old daughter Valeria, who drowned trying to cross the Rio Grande. “And it could stop immediately if the Democrats change the laws. And that father who was probably a wonderful guy with his daughter, things like that wouldn’t happen,” Trump continued.
The father and daughter died when the little girl jumped back into the water after being safely carried to shore. She was reportedly trying to follow her father as he went to get his wife and bring her to safety.
Ramirez’s mother said that he was seeking to stay in the U.S. for economic reasons, which is not classified as a valid reason to receive a grant of asylum under current law.
The blame game
Trump went on to describe the difficulties and dangers of seeking asylum or crossing the border illegally. “That journey across that river is a dangerous journey. Going across the Rio Grande is very, very dangerous, depending on the time of year and the conditions and the rapidity of the water,” he said.
He went on to say that if Democrats allowed him to pass the right laws, people would engage in misguided and hazardous crossing attempts, and drownings would not happen. “The asylum policy of the Democrats is responsible,” he concluded.
While it is true that Democrats continue to obstruct the process of immigration reform, it is worth noting that Republicans also failed to enact legislative change in the two years they controlled both houses of Congress and the White House.
Progressives currently favor open borders, citing their belief that immigrants have a right to be in this country and their purported desire to help people attain a better standard of living. Perhaps their most significant, if unstated, motivation is the potential promise of millions of new Democrat voters grateful to those who assisted them in their journey to asylum and perhaps even citizenship.
Slow-moving Congress
After finally acknowledging months ago that the border situation was indeed a crisis, the House finally passed a bipartisan, Senate-authored bill designed to provide help for migrants detained at the border, in what was viewed as a stinging defeat for Democrats.
Following some initial concern about whether President Trump would support the final version of the legislation, the president indicated that he will indeed sign the bill.
Meanwhile, new waves of immigrants continue to seek asylum, cross the border illegally and are detained by Border Patrol agents in overcrowded facilities. Reports of children receiving substandard care prompted Congress to bring a bill to a vote nearly two months after Trump requested emergency funding on May 1.
While he waited for Congress to act, Trump secured concessions from Mexico including the deployment of thousands of Mexican troops at the border to prevent immigrants from crossing. Mexico will also house some asylum seekers while they wait for their hearings to take place.
Pressure is on
Immigration was a major pillar of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, and concerns have only intensified as the numbers of people trying to cross the border have surged dramatically in recent months.
If Trump can’t make progress on immigration, his base may well express their frustration at the polls in 2020. Democrats know this and have been determined to impede his efforts as much as possible.
Let’s hope for the good of the country that Trump can get some traction on this issue before conditions get even worse.
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