After a week of outrage over child separation at the southern border and a subsequent executive order that claims to stop it, President Trump is again using pointed rhetoric to describe the immigration crisis in America. In a Sunday string of tweets, Trump blasted Democrats, telling them to "fix the laws" while praising his own administration for being better than those of Bush or Obama at handing the complex issue. In that same tweet, Trump connected illegal immigration with crime on this side of the border. "Cannot accept all of the people trying to break into our Country. Strong Borders, No Crime!" he tweeted. As Politico notes, Trump and his supporters have frequently used controversial language when describing undocumented immigrants, specifically when invoking the MS-13 gang.
The president did not mention the street gang in Sunday's tweets. However, Trump did say that "We cannot allow all of these people to invade our Country ... we must immediately, with no Judges or Court Cases, bring them back from where they came." As of May, federal immigration courts had a backlog of over 700,000 cases and some courts were scheduling hearings after 2021. Per AP, Republican apprehension over Trump's habit of sending off fiery and unpredictable tweets about the hot button issue and their fear of riling conservative voters are undermining GOP leaders' election-year struggle to shove an immigration bill through the House this week. Party leaders are trying to finally secure the votes they need for their wide-ranging bill with tweaks they hope will goose support from the GOP's dueling conservative and moderate wings. (More Donald Trump stories.)