President Donald Trump has sparked a bipartisan outcry after delivering fiery remarks on Monday in which he blamed Democrats for the ongoing family separation crisis at the US-Mexico border and warned that the United States must not become a 'migrant camp'. Speaking at a White House event, Trump insisted that his administration's strict immigration policies are necessary to prevent the US from ending up like Europe.
'The United States will not be a migrant camp and it will not be a refugee holding facility. Won't be,' Trump declared, adding, 'You look at what's happening in Europe. You look at what's happening in other places. We can't allow that to happen to the United States. Not on my watch.'
The president pinned the blame for family separations squarely on the Democratic Party, accusing them of refusing to negotiate on immigration reform. 'If the Democrats would sit down, instead of obstructing, we could have something done very quickly - good for the children, good for the country, good for the world,' he asserted. 'We could have an immigration bill. We could have child separation [ended].'
Trump argued that the current laws are 'horrible' and that the US has 'the worst immigration laws in the entire world'. He called for a merit-based system that prioritises high-skilled workers and secures the borders, stating, 'A country without borders is not a country at all.'
The president also conflated the diversity visa lottery with illegal border crossings, claiming that those who enter unlawfully 'could be murderers and thieves'. He reiterated that the only way to end family separation is for Democrats to join Republicans in passing legislation that restructures the immigration system as he demands.
