Sorry, Trump: There Was Nothing Stealthy About Syrian Families at U.S. Border

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a rally, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015 in Norfolk, Va. (AP Photo/Jason Hirschfeld)
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Donald Trump is using the detainment of eight Syrian refugees on the U.S. border to defend his calls for a “big and beautiful wall” at the border, but the Syrians he is talking about weren’t sneaking into the county.

The two Syrian families actually surrendered themselves at a U.S. border checkpoint in Laredo.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesman Thursday told Talking Points Memo, “DHS confirms that on Tuesday, members of two Syrian families, two men, two women and four children, presented themselves at a port of entry in Laredo.”

The spokesman said that the individuals were “taken into custody by CBP and turned over to ICE for further processing. The two adult women and four children were transferred to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. The two men from these families are being held at the South Texas Detention Center in Pearsall Texas.”

In light of the terrorist attacks in Paris, GOP 2016 presidential candidates have called on doing everything from tightening security measures to all-out banning Syrian Muslims from gaining asylum in the U.S.

Current Texas Gov. Greg Abbott joined more than two dozen governors in his call to block Syrian refugees from being placed in his state and on Wednesday, he also tweeted out a story about the Syrians in Laredo from Breitbart.com.

The most recent hysteria over Islamic State terrorists using the country’s southern border to infiltrate the U.S. is nothing new. As thousands of unaccompanied minors spilled across the U.S.-Texas border during the spring and summer of 2014, conservative Rep. Louie Gohmert told Fox News that he had heard from the FBI director that “there were people from terrorist countries that were assuming Hispanic names and learning a few words of Spanish, and coming in.”

That same year, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry told an audience that there was a “very real possibility” that ISIL terrorists were using the southern route to sneak into the U.S.

At the time, U.S. officials flatly denied claims that there was any evidence terrorists were using that route.

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Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for wtf1 wtf1 says:

    Ever notice that whenever tRump is at an outdoor event, where the wind might blow and expose his ridiculous comb over, he wears a hat?!

  2. Avatar for caltg caltg says:

    Ever notice that whenever he gets a chance, Trump makes really stupid claims of credit for things he had absolutely nothing to do with?

  3. Eight Syrians were just caught on the southern border trying to get into the U.S. ISIS maybe? I told you so. WE NEED A BIG & BEAUTIFUL WALL!

    The tone of this makes me think he is trolling everyone, including his know-nothing supporters.

    It’s like a self-aware, deliberately over-the-top caricature of something Trump would say.

  4. Avatar for sooner sooner says:

    Were they smuggling in suitcases of Falafels?

  5. Canada is accepting thousands of Syrian refugees. Time to build a wall between Canada and the USA. What do you say, Trump? Your hysteria disqualifies you from the presidency.

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