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Trump threatens to ‘entirely’ close US-Mexico border unless wall demands
met
WASHINGTON, Dec 28, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – US President Donald Trump on Friday
threatened to “entirely” close the southern US border with Mexico if
lawmakers refuse his demands to fund a wall.
“We will be forced to close the Southern Border entirely if the
Obstructionist Democrats do not give us the money to finish the Wall & also
change the ridiculous immigration laws that our Country is saddled with,”
Trump tweeted.
The Republican leader’s warning came as a partial federal government
shutdown was set to drag on into next week, with legislators in Washington
failing to reach a compromise over Trump’s insistence on funding the border
barrier.
Both sides have dug in, with Democrats refusing to provide $5 billion for
the project and the president — who has made hardline immigration polices a
centerpiece of his presidency — vowing he will not fully fund the government
unless he gets the money.
In November, Trump threatened to close the “whole border” with Mexico if
“it gets to a level where we’re going to lose control or people are going to
start getting hurt.”
Days later US authorities dramatically shuttered a border crossing in
southern California after hundreds of migrants — part of the “caravan” Trump
had roundly condemned — tried to breach a fence from the Mexican city of
Tijuana.
The temporary closing saw border agents halt vehicles and pedestrians at
the San Ysidro crossing point, one of the busiest between the neighboring
countries.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1920HRS