WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2019) President Donald Trump is visiting the US southern border on Thursday as tensions flare with Congressional Democrats over funding to build a barrier the administration says law enforcement needs to stem illegal immigration.
Trump on Tuesday night during a national address - delivered behind the desk in the White House's Oval Office - said border security requires Congress to approve $5.7 billion in funding to build a "physical barrier" made of steel on the US-Mexico border to end what he described as a humanitarian crisis. Meanwhile, the US Federal government has been partially shut down since December 22 over the budget dispute.
On Monday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders in a statement announced that Trump will travel to the southern border on Thursday "to meet with those on the frontlines of the national security and humanitarian crisis."
Air Force One, the president's aircraft, is due to arrive at the border town of McAllen, Texas at around 12:30 p.m. local time (6:30 p.m. GMT) on Thursday, according to White House media guidance released earlier this week.
Trump after meeting with Republican Senators on Capitol Hill to discuss the government shutdown told reporters on Wednesday that his party was united on border security and funding for the wall.
"I would say we have a very, very unified party," Trump said. "The Republicans want border security, they want national security, they want to have a steel barrier or a wall, concrete, they don't care. We need a barrier to stop the human traffickers and the drug trade and stop all of the big problems that come."
Senate Minority Lead Mitch McConnell echoed Trump's remarks, saying that the Republican Party stands behind Trump's agenda on border security.
Democrats, who now control the US House of Representatives, have vowed to block any bill that includes the amount of money Trump is requesting to construct the border wall.
Responding to Trump's speech, last night Democratic leaders in their own address called on the president to reopen the government and negotiate the border wall issue separately.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer met with Trump again on Wednesday but the meeting ended quickly, according to both sides.
"Just left a meeting with Chuck and Nancy, a total waste of time. I asked what is going to happen in 30 days if I quickly open things up, are you going to approve Border Security which includes a Wall or Steel Barrier? Nancy said, NO. I said bye-bye, nothing else works!" Trump said in a Twitter post late Wednesday afternoon after his talks with the Democrats.
Schumer in a press briefing after the meeting said Trump walked out after hearing "no" from Pelosi, and described the president's reaction as a temper tantrum.
The US president since last week has repeatedly threatened to declare a national emergency in order to bypass Congress and divert military funding for the purposes of building the wall. Democrats have been alarmed by the proposal, claiming that it would weaken national security.
Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, the second highest ranking member of his party in the chamber, warned Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan during a meeting on Wednesday that there would be consequences over building the wall.
"Using DoD [Department of Defense] funds to pay for the wall, when Congress was never asked to approve of such a plan, is a major breach of relations between DoD and the oversight committees," Durbin said in a press release. "In my meeting with Acting Secretary Shanahan, I cautioned him that if President Trump directs DoD to circumvent Congress in such a legally dubious way on such a major issue, Congress will have to reevaluate its relationship with the Department."
The Trump administration has stated that the border wall is needed to prevent terrorists and criminals from entering the country.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters on Wednesday that plans to build the wall on the US-Mexican border is an internal affair of the United States.
Currently there is nearly 600 miles worth of barrier, primarily consisting of 16-foot high fencing, along the 1,900-mile US-Mexico border. Trump wants to erect a steel wall over 30 feet tall on more than 200 miles of the border that would include new and replacement barriers.
