Trump says border wall is 'absolutely critical,' will pay for itself

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Carlos Barria-Pool/Getty Images)

In his first prime-time address from the Oval Office, President Trump on Tuesday night said a barrier must be built along the southern border in order to keep out drugs and criminals.

Border Patrol agents encounter "thousands" of migrants every day, he said, and "we're out of space to hold them and we have no way to promptly return them back home to their country." Trump proclaimed that "all Americans are hurt by uncontrolled illegal migration," as it "strains resources and drives down jobs and wages," but blacks and Hispanics are hit the hardest.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.