Trump: ‘There’ll be no approvals from me’ on House immigration moves without border wall, tougher security

05/24/2018 Politico

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he will veto any immigration legislation that emerges from Congress that does not include funding for a border wall and improved border security measures, a warning shot at moderate House Republicans pushing GOP leadership for a vote on immigration proposals.

“Unless it includes a wall, and I mean a wall, a real wall, and unless it includes very strong border security, there’ll be no approvals from me. Because I have to either approve it or not,” the president said in a Fox News interview that was taped Wednesday and aired Thursday morning. “There are bills going through. I’m watching one or two of them. We’ll see what happens, but I can tell you there is a mood right now for border security.”

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Trump warns against admitting unaccompanied migrant children: ‘They’re not innocent’

05/23/2018 The Washington Post

President Trump and his top administration officials repeatedly warned Wednesday that unaccompanied migrant children arriving at the southern border are potentially exposing the nation to eventual gang crime.

Immigrant advocates have long said that the children, primarily from Central America, are fleeing violence in their home countries and seeking safe harbor in the United States. But the Trump administration has used their plight to justify cracking down on policies that allow these migrants to be released and obtain hearings before immigration judges, rather than being deported immediately.

“We have the worst immigration laws of any country, anywhere in the world,” Trump said at the roundtable held at the Morrelly Homeland Security Center. “They exploited the loopholes in our laws to enter the country as unaccompanied alien minors.”

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Border Patrol agent fatally shoots female migrant, official says

05/23/2018 LA Times

A Border Patrol agent shot and killed a female migrant while patrolling the border town of Rio Bravo, Texas, late Wednesday afternoon, officials said.

The agent was responding to reports of activity in the town nearly 12 miles south of Laredo when he encountered a group of migrants who he said beat him with two-by-fours, according to a statement released by the Border Patrol

During the melee that ensued, the agent fired and shot a female migrant in the head, the Border Patrol said. The agent gave the wounded woman CPR, and paramedics responded, but she later died, the statement said. The incident is now under review by the Texas Rangers and the FBI.

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Trump Suggests Withholding Aid to Curb Illegal Immigration

05/23/2018 The Wall Street Journal

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he wanted to cut aid for the home countries of illegal immigrants to the U.S. based on the number of their citizens who crossed the border, expanding on an earlier threat to reduce foreign aid for Central American countries.

“We’re working on a plan to deduct a lot of the aid,” Mr. Trump said at a round table event on Long Island to discuss gang violence by the Central American-tied MS-13. He added that he believed some countries actively encouraged citizens to leave for the U.S., saying, “They’re not trying to stop it…They don’t want the people that we’re getting.”

He then proposed making aid deductions on a per capita basis “every time someone comes in from a certain country.” Some immigration policy experts argue that the way to prevent migrants from coming to the U.S. is to increase aid to the region to combat poverty and gang violence.

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Mazda and Mexico Would Be Hit by U.S. Car Import Crackdown

05/24/2018 Bloomberg

Automakers including Mazda Motor Corp. and countries led by Mexico should buckle up: their car businesses could be in for a bumpy ride, thanks to U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump instructed his Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to consider conducting an investigation into whether auto imports are weakening the American economy and may impair national security. The Commerce Department said shortly after the White House’s statement issued late Wednesday that it’s beginning the probe.

Mexico — by far the largest source of U.S. auto imports — would be most affected if the Trump administration implements any protectionist measures, which could include tariffs the president has floated for months. Canada, Japan, Germany and South Korea would be the next most affected.

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US Easing of Gun Export Controls Could Send New Wave of Arms to LatAm

05/15/2018 InSight Crime

US President Donald Trump has proposed a new reform that would ease firearm export controls for US weapons manufacturers, which could increase the already high number of US-sourced firearms used in criminal activities in Latin America.

The proposal, published May 14, would shift authority to regulate exports of certain firearms and related products from the State Department to the Commerce Department. The move aims to streamline the approval process for arms exports so US manufacturers — suffering from decreased domestic sales in the Trump era — can sell more guns, ammunition and accessories abroad.

“There will be more leeway to do arms sales,” a senior administration official told Reuters last year when the plan was first floated unofficially. “You could really turn the spigot on if you do it the right way.”

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U.S. Pushes Plan to Make Mexico Handle Asylum Seekers

05/17/2018 New York Times

MEXICO CITY — As a large caravan of Central American migrants approached the northern border of Mexico last month, the Trump administration launched a campaign to turn back the group.

Unwelcoming statements were issued by American officials, including Kirstjen Nielsen, the secretary of homeland security, who told migrants who intended to apply for asylum in the United States that they “should” instead seek protection in Mexico.

Mexican officials, however, said the migrants were under no legal obligation to apply in Mexico, and, indeed, more than 200 of them ended up crossing onto American soil and petitioning for sanctuary there.

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