President Donald Trump defended his immigration stance Friday morning following his rejection of a bipartisan deal on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and outrage over his vulgar dismissal of people from “shithole countries.”
“The so-called bipartisan DACA deal presented yesterday to myself and a group of Republican Senators and Congressmen was a big step backwards. Wall was not properly funded, Chain & Lottery were made worse and USA would be forced to take large numbers of people from high crime…..,” Trump tweeted.
He continued: “….countries which are doing badly. I want a merit based system of immigration and people who will help take our country to the next level. I want safety and security for our people. I want to stop the massive inflow of drugs. I want to fund our military, not do a Dem defund….
“….Because of the Democrats not being interested in life and safety, DACA has now taken a big step backwards. The Dems will threaten ‘shutdown,’ but what they are really doing is shutting down our military, at a time we need it most. Get smart, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
DACA protects hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children from deportation.
Trump on Thursday rejected a pitch from a bipartisan team of senators on a compromise immigration deal to protect DACA participants while increasing border security.
“Why do we want all these people from ‘shithole countries’ coming here?” Trump told senators in the Oval Office, according to a source briefed on the meeting.