President Donald Trump seems haunted by paranoia about people who dare be something other than white guys born in the U.S.A. This Sunday evening, he spurted out new outlandish rhetoric on Twitter, targeting close to as many opposition interests as he could in just a pair of tweets. He criticized everyone from Congressional Democrats to Mexican authorities for the supposed national security crisis unfolding at the southern U.S. border, ranting:
‘More apprehensions (captures) at the Southern Border than in many years. Border Patrol amazing! Country is FULL! System has been broken for many years. Democrats in Congress must agree to fix loopholes – No Open Borders (Crimes & Drugs). Will Close Southern Border If necessary. Mexico must apprehend all illegals and not let them make the long march up to the United States, or we will have no other choice than to Close the Border and/or institute Tariffs. Our Country is FULL!’
That’s a nice rundown of some of Trump’s most closely held talking points these days, sure — but are we supposed to take him seriously? He’s pushing the “our country is full” line like it’s some actually tangibly relevant factor in immigration policy decisions. It mostly goes or at least should go without saying but… the United States is not “full.”
There have, meanwhile, been some issues with capacity at Department of Homeland Security (DHS) detention centers for undocumented immigrants. They’ve repeatedly contracted housing the immigrants to facilities like the privately run River Correctional Facility in Louisiana where a couple dozen detained immigrants recently launched a hunger strike over being unable to procure bond. There have also been high-profile instances of immigrants literally being left out in the cold, with imagery recently going viral of asylum seekers held in a chain link enclosure under a highway overpass in El Paso.
If the Trump administration is so concerned about capacity to hold asylum seekers, they could let them go in the many cases they pose no verifiable threat to the United States. A federal judge ruled just this past week that the burden of proof rests with DHS in the face of allegations that asylum seekers are a danger.
Concern about detention capacity doesn’t seem to be quite what Trump is getting at, however. He wants nobody coming in. He is operating in an alternate universe where the United States is a fortress of white people he must defend and Democrats want to tear apart the borders and leave them completely “open.” It’s like a lame television show for incels with too much time on their hands.
Check out Twitter’s response to Trump’s rants…
Featured Image via Screenshot
