Trump Keeps Trying To Violate Immigration Law
President Donald Trump listens during an event on immigration at the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex, Friday, June 22, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The news of President Trump’s lawlessness when it comes to immigration has conquered the news cycle this week. And now, we have another story. Expanding on earlier reporting, CNN and The New York Times both reported that in his visit to Calexico, CA last week, President Trump not only asked the head of CBP to violate the law, he offered a pardon. Jake Tapper of CNN reported:
President Donald Trump told Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan he would grant McAleenan a pardon if he were sent to jail for having border agents block asylum seekers from entering the US in defiance of US law, senior administration officials tell CNN.
…
Two officials briefed on the exchange say the President told McAleenan, since named the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, that he “would pardon him if he ever went to jail for denying US entry to migrants,” as one of the officials paraphrased.
You read that correctly. The President of the United States reportedly told the top CBP official to violate the law and then offered a pardon if he were held accountable for executing the unlawful order. This isn’t the first unlawful request President Trump reportedly made while in Calexico.
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CNN also reported that President Trump told border patrol agents to not allow migrants to cross the border at all and to tell judges America is at full capacity. CNN continues:
After the President left the room, agents sought further advice from their leaders, who told them they were not giving them that direction and if they did what the President said they would take on personal liability. You have to follow the law, they were told.
Those are just a few of the reports this week that paint the picture of a President who appears hell-bent on violating the law. Yesterday, multiple reports revealed that President Trump tried to order DHS to begin releasing detained migrants into sanctuary cities to punish Democrats. This sparked fierce backlash. The White House initially denied the reports. But then, President Trump tweeted that they are still considering this approach. Trump appears fixated on this idea in spite of the fact DHS rejected the proposal and the fact lawyers told the White House the move would “run afoul of the law”.
….The Radical Left always seems to have an Open Borders, Open Arms policy – so this should make them very happy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2019
All is well. pic.twitter.com/sfhKQ4AiIV
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) April 12, 2019
This news comes amid a purge at the DHS, engineered by Stephen Miller, which included then-Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen who was pushed out in part for not reimplementing the child separation policy at Trump’s urging. Nielsen cited court challenges as the reason she couldn’t separate migrant families again.
Democrats need to get serious about what their next move is. President Trump is running an objectively lawless administration and it only appears to be getting worse. If House Democrats don’t rein in Trump’s authoritarian tendencies, who will?
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