Trump: I'll Shut Border 'Permanently' If I Have To

President tells Mexico it should send all 'flag-waving migrants' back to their home countries
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 26, 2018 9:00 AM CST
Trump: I'll Shut Border 'Permanently' If I Have To
President Trump on the South Lawn of the White House on Sunday in Washington.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

On Sunday, there was "mayhem" at the US-Mexico border as pedestrian crossings at the San Ysidro port of entry, one of the country's busiest, were suspended by Customs and Border Protection, and US agents shot tear gas at migrants near the border after a few tried to breach a fence. Politico reports the port of entry was reopened Sunday evening, but President Trump made clear Monday morning he doesn't want to admit the asylum-seeking migrants still waiting for entry—and he issued a warning to Mexico on what he might do to keep any more people from entering. "Mexico should move the flag waving Migrants, many of whom are stone cold criminals, back to their countries," he tweeted.

"Do it by plane, do it by bus, do it anyway you want, but they are NOT coming into the U.S.A.," he continued. "We will close the Border permanently if need be. Congress, fund the WALL!" Politico notes the president has offered no evidence there are criminals en masse among the migrant groups. A deal was said to be in the works between the US and Mexico on having those seeking US asylum wait in Mexico while their cases are being processed, but USA Today reports on "conflicting statements" from Mexico's incoming interior minister, Olga Sanchez Cordero. In a Washington Post story on Saturday, Sanchez Cordero said that "for now, we have agreed to this policy of Remain in Mexico." Later, however, she noted: "There is no agreement of any sort between the incoming Mexican government and the US government." (More on what happened at the border Sunday here.)

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