President Trump will use an executive order "next week" to end the catch and release policy he's detested for so long, he said in a speech Thursday.
America will "no longer release" undocumented immigrants found in the U.S., and instead will hold migrants in "massive tent cities" until their deportation or asylum proceedings, Trump said Thursday. The administration is currently building "massive cities of tents" along the border to accommodate for the expected influx of detainees, Trump added, insisting against evidence that it would be "totally legal" to indefinitely detain families.
Under the forthcoming executive order, "migrants seeking asylum will have to present themselves lawfully at a port of entry," Trump added. That defies international law that says anyone can claim asylum in another country no matter how they enter. Trump also likened his so-called "zero tolerance" policy to parent-child separations under former President Barack Obama, though he neglected to mention that families were only split under Obama when a parent faced a criminal charge.
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Trump also continued his fearmongering claims about the migrant caravan still 1,000 miles from the U.S. border. He suggested those in the caravan are "not legitimate asylum seekers," and besides, "women don't want them in our country." Trump recently said there may be as many as 15,000 troops to meet this "invasion" at the border, and added Thursday he "hope[s]" they won't have to fire at the migrants. But if those migrants throw rocks like they were accused of doing to Mexican police, Trump said "we will consider that a firearm ... because there's not much difference."
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