When asked about his administration’s missing the deadline to reunite families separated at the border, President Donald Trump insinuated that the separations are a deterrent, saying that the families should not have come illegally.
“Well, I have a solution. Tell people not to come to our country illegally,” Trump told reporters Tuesday on his way out of the country for his Europe trip. “That’s the solution. Don’t come to our country illegally. Come like other people do. Come legally.”
When asked if he means that he is punishing the children, Trump doubled down.
“I’m saying this: We have laws. We have borders. Don’t come to our country illegally,” he said. “It’s not a good thing. And as far as ICE is concerned, the people that are fighting ICE? It’s a disgrace. These people go into harm’s way. There is nobody under greater danger than the people from ICE. What they do to MS-13, and everything else.”
He then turned the subject to attacking Democrats.
“So we ought to support ICE, not do what the Democrats are doing,” Trump continued. “Democrats want open borders, and they don’t mind crime. We want no crime, and we want borders where borders mean something. And remember this: Without borders, you do not have a country.”
Members of the administration have often flip-flopped on whether or not the child separations are designed to scare people off from entering the country illegally.
Watch below:
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) July 10, 2018
