100,000/month is acceptable for you? NOTHING has been done for 30 years except give them more benefits. Now Newsome (Governor of CA) wants to give them Medi-Cal, which "I" would have to pay for. And you. And still have to pay for myself and my wife. When do I get something for free?
1
This photo-op boondoggle is reminiscent of the cabinet meeting which Pres once held where he went around the table and invited/ allowed each attendee to praise him. He did likewise in McAllen where more than half a dozen officials and civil props were called upon to laud him.
2
This is a fail for trump. I don't "see" a crisis. All I see is a tired old woman and an old man in front of a bunch of props on the Texan border trying to show to the public that we need a "wall". If anything, this picture shows how much trump is "grasping at straws" (desperation) to save his presidency.
5
So, the Border Patrol is now the Armed Forces? re saluting the alleged commander in chief.
I guess that's what we can expect with knee jerkers that can't understand "border security" is not the same a wall. We can have border security with or without a wall. A wall, however, is not border security.
I see the deplorables using the concepts interchangeably.
5
I live in Texas & yes there is a crisis. I don’t even live near the border and it’s bad. The cartel controls all the drug trade here, hiring locals to be their daily dealers. One young African American last year crossed them, so they broke nearly every bone in his body, pulled his fingernails out with plyers, then executed him last. Assaults, theft, and murder are on the rise, not to mention they put their kids in school. Undocumented children miraculously show up just in time for testing, fail, and then pull scores/funding down for the district. All too often an illegal gets drunk, steals a car, doesn’t know traffic laws, and ends up killing someone in a head on car crash. We had a delivery truck stolen a few years back, illegals loaded it with stolen tires and tried to head back to Mexico.
Before all you limousine liberals say there isn’t a crisis, come look for yourself. I now carry a firearm everywhere I go. Concealed carry permits are skyrocketing, and women are the main demographic.
3
@JOSEPH
Taken literally, your last sentence says that undocumented immigrants caused the price of CC permits to rise greatly and most of the population to become female. Is that it?
1
@JOSEPH - Provide some verifiable sources for your claim. News stories of all these incidents will suffice.
1
Exactly.
He's wearing a campaign hat! Let him pay for the trip.
5
The ONLY crisis is the one Donald is facing with proof of his campaign manager. Manafort sharing polling data with a Russian oligarch who was involved in attacking our democracy in 2016!!!! This "crisis" is pure distraction and reality show to promote Donald!
The venerable New York Times, and the Media, in general, would serve America well by doing some solid investigation of the southern border. Showing film of the border, interviewing folks who live there, telling America about the FACTS and statistics of immigration. Please NYT, use your platform to INFORM and therefore, take the wind out of Donald's sails!
Donald is pure narcissist, he is loving all the attention! But who I'm angry with are the Republicans in the senate specifically, Mitch McConnell who proven to be a puppet for Putin's puppet....Donald! He's too old to run for re-election what is Mitch afraid of?!
Open OUR government, Mitch!
3
Trump's "wall" is nothing more than campaigning.
IF Trump-Pence-GOP were at all truly interested in border security they would first, end the shut-down that has deprived Homeland security and US Coast Guard of pay.
Second, T-P-GOP would work with Democratic leadership and appoint a bipartisan committee including 50% non-partisan experts, to determine the best long term approach to boarder security (including physical barriers, alternative security systems, guest worker-immigration policy, tracking those who over-stay their visa, and cost-benefit-payment analysis) giving the committee 6 months to complete their work.
Third, until the path forward can be determined and funds to pay for it, we must replace failed sections of the physical barrier, increase the number of immigration judges, and behave humanely towards those seeking asylum.
We must obey our own laws and those international laws we are signatory to. We must demonstrate, again, we are a nation of conscience and not a bunch of hooligans.
6
The pushback from the Dems, Nancy and Chuck , was pathetic. Steny Hoyer is right. Each shutdown damages this country in too many ways. Each shutdown has hurt the country. This time it's the GOP's that don't care. They will use whatever tool they can to make their points no matter how destructive the consequences are for government employees or the country. Trump has used threat and bankruptcy all his life to demoralize legitimate creditors thanks to daddy's wealth and Roy Cohn tactics.
In this case the tepid response from Pelosi and Schummer was pathetic. They did not have the insight, courage, or respect for the country to nail Trump and the Republicans for their damaging action to US credibility here and abroad. Maybe this is because of their own participation in shut-down and threats.Government employees, the welfare of the country, and our credibility in the world rests on a government that is kept running. Trump and his Republican buddies and subservient Democrats do not serve that purpose.
3
The irony of border patrol speaking about seizing some of those displayed items in a tunnel that someone had built while the president is clamoring for a wall is just too much
10
There is a border crisis only in trumps reality TV show mindset. This is just another one of trump's distractions. Mr. Mueller please remove this parasite.
8
Dear Editor:
The very first sentence of your Article reveals a symptom of irrationality and cognitive breakdown that has been infected by the current spiritual malaise in DC politics. What is real exists; what is not real doesn't. So, there cannot be two realities regarding the Texas border as you report: one that exists and one that the White House wishes for. Your headline should read, "The White House is wishful thinking about what is happening at the Texas border," instead.
2
The crisis that Trump should be talking about is Global Warming and Climate Change. While the planet is approaching its death throes, that discussion is deflected and drowned by this fabricated border pap.
6
The REAL issue is whether one person can govern us by fiat, because sure as you're born, if Trump gets away with his Reichstag Fire, this Trumped-up "emergency", he'll do it again. And again. And again.
5
Lest anyone think that this Trump charade on the southern border is anything other than pure partisan politics, note Trump's reference to crime that would take place, if no wall were built, in Iowa and New Hampshire!
Thinking about 2020, is he? I think so. He clearly thinks we're idiots, and he's about 35% right.
8
For better coverage of the reality of life in McAllen, TX and along the border, please see Texas Monthly's Jan. 10 article by Carlos Sanchez..."They Don't Realize What a Dynamic Place It is". Available online, with very good embedded videos of comments by McAllen Mayor Jim Darling.
https://www.texasmonthly.com/news/trump-visit-border-mcallen-locals-voices-immigration-debate/
3
When the First Lady went to the border, she let us know how she felt with her “I Don’t Care” jacket. Trump still wears those ridiculous trucker hats that proclaim a restored greatness. He’s a very dishonest individual.
3
Can we demand a testing of Trump for dementia - he seems like truly he is not playing with a full deck. Reagan had Alzheimer’s- it is not unthinkable that Trump has a brain function disease.
6
what was this? the President visiting a disaster zone or a campaign whistlestop? expatiate.
3
(Almost) nothing makes me angrier than Trump's exploitation of grieving family members. Just yesterday he co-opted the brother of our murdered Newman, California police officer to shill for this stupid Wall!
But...when a multi-fatality incident is perpetrated by a regular ole while male citizen?
4
Oh, I see, focusing on White People is acceptable, but mentioning that someone was here illegally, and killed a cop that was just pulling over a suspected drunk driver, is unacceptable. And to be clear, Fiji Islanders do not consider you to be "one of them".
1
@BorisRoberts Thank you! Legally immigrating .... why bother to follow the rule of law? Breaking laws to demonstrate irrational passion for one's family is what really shows a good citizen. Or not.
“I know you don’t see it yet, but I have a feel about things, and I really believe the other side is starting to get it.” Yeah, right. Just like you believe that cutting taxes on billionaires helps the economy, and global warming is a hoax, and the working poor are freeloaders, and all you have to do if your next paycheck is held up by the shutdown is ask your parents for help — or maybe ask Russian oligarchs for a loan.
No, I don't see it.
4
These immigrants come to the U.S. primarily to escape problems in their native countries (Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama) which includes a stagnant economy, high levels of crime, political corruption and widespread drug use. There is a legal way to request a green card to enter the U.S., however unlawful mobs entry is not allowed. Shame and disgrace of all these central American countries and their governments who fail to feed their people, to give them medical care, good housing, and jobs.
Sorry that your country does not love you anymore. To find true love you need to find and walk on God’s Holy road which will one day open the gate to His Kingdom in Heaven. The road you are currently walking is man made and will only bring you tears and despair, darkness and regrets.
1
Simple man, looking for a simple solution to a complex problem. He keeps proving his inability to lead our country.
5
Just as an aside: how does he get away with wearing that MAGA campaign cap on all these "official" trips?
So very un-presidential!
8
There is inverse correlation between one's proximity to immigrants and fear of immigrants.
The only reporting about a border crisis should be reporting about the crisis the resident has created for asylum seekers.
4
Yes! We have a crisis at the border! Will anyone in the media or any elected official focus your attention on the undocumented children STILL being held in detention camps. Trump created this crisis and, to date, still hasn't fixed this one. Yet, we should just give him $5 billion to build a wall?
2
Trump is using the "Big Lie" propaganda technique, that worked so well in Germany between 1933 and 1945. The only thing that keeps him from being successful is a free press.
5
Jayme Closs' parents were murdered, and Jayme Closs held against her will for almost three months. I wonder if suspect Jake Thomas Patterson is a member of MS-13, or an "illegal" immigrant. No? Hmm. That doesn't seem to jibe with the Trump/GOP narrative re: our current "crisis" and source of all things violent and heinous.
4
I seriously hate this man, and I seriously fear for America. what will he foist on us next - martial law at the borders?
3
Illegal immigration is at a 20 year low. No crisis. No emergency. This is Trump's political football. Right wing media also needs this bogeyman for business. Ann Coulter needs to sell books to her xenophobic base; Limbaugh needs to sell ads on his xenophobic radio show. Money is to be made, votes to be secured with bogeyman wall rhetoric. Science, data, truth, reason -- you can't make money on the street with that stuff. You gotta grift, grind, shill, like the duke and the dauphin in Twain's Huck Finn. Find the angle and exploit for advantage. It's immoral. It's dangerous. It's wrong. But Twain knew it was -- and is -- as American as our flag. Trump is propping up his Wall Revival, preaching about nonsense to brainwashed believers. Pass around the hat. Give him money.
But there is another tradition in America. One that confronts corruption and abuse of power. One that takes down the grifters and con-men...
Thank you, Pelosi, for confronting this grifter with poise, aplomb and class -- this is the side of American tradition we want to uphold, support and vote for.
5
Trump is delusional if he truly "believe[s] the other side is starting to get it." Unless, of course, he now understands the slow growth of opposition in his own party to his petty, destructive policies.
2
Was that bag of money in the picture going to help pay the employees, or was it for Trump to take home with him?
4
The header reads: “In Texas Visit, Trump Presses His Argument That There’s a Border ‘Crisis’”
The Hannity “interview” with Trump at the border shows Trump is simply a ventriloquist’s dummy and Hannity is pressing the argument. Trump has no idea what is happening or where he’s going. He is a vacant automaton being fed lines.
5
There’s no crisis; according to the latest Yale study there are only between 16-30 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. It’s not a crisis until you move the decimal on those numbers, roughly 160-300 million. But don’t worry, data show that net numbers are down 3% this year.
Also, although we know you can’t go to Canada without a passport/authorization, we are perfectly comfortable characterizing this mass body of people with any number of characteristics, from law abiding to hardworking. You know, the way the Irish are spritely and Germans industrious.
5
McAllen is safer because there is a steel fence in place along most of its border w/ Mexico. Jim Acosta made a fool of himself by walking along it and declaring there are no immigrants coming through there. OF COURSE NOT. There's a fence!
Democrats don't accept the facts provided by HLS and border patrol agents. They did, apparently, when they voted for a border wall before Trump was president. What changed their minds, I wonder?
3
@MCH, they never voted for what Trump has proposed. https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2019/jan/09/donald-trump/trump-democrats-reverse-border-wall-position/
1
Meanwhile, here in America, we making marijuana legal, lessening the sentences for possession of smaller quantities of drugs, and letting people out of prison who committed drug offenses....because...wait for it...
Mexicans are bringing in drugs and THEY are the ones at fault.
We are giving police departments, and in PA at least, are distributing FREE Narcan to use to revive drug abusers/users. FREE to them ( not to us taxpayers).
( Do we give free insulin or epi-pens to those who need them for illness? NO we do not).
When do the drug users get called out?
They create the demand. We pay billions for that.
Easier to blame bedraggled women and children I guess.
Trump should look into the camera, at his base and the rest of us, and dmeand, in a chest clutching, gently rocking, rosebudded lipped address, to stop using illegal drugs.
No Mexican or Chinese person forced any American to shoot up. We all know the dangers by now. No excuses.
GOP is so big on personal responsibility, and they should be.
Start with the drug users.
Starve them of Federal and State benefits. Cut off the support and the free Narcan. End SSI and SSDI for people addled by drug use who will NEVER be more than they are the first day they collect benefits( and go right back out to light up a bowl on our dime).
We are blaming the wrong people.
So his photo op is staged with contraband that would not have been stopped by a wall - how inept can his handlers be.
1
Did someone double check to see if Donald didn't steal that bag of money, in the picture, before he went back to Washington?
3
Anyone who doesn't think we have a crisis with illegals , just doesn't look at the facts, the murders, the drugs and what the women have to go through. They don't believe the border agents who are there day in and day out protecting. It is sad that they let ideology and hate cloud their thinking rather than reality.
2
@Tony J Mann, you are the one refusing to look at the facts. The “illegals” commit far fewer crimes than native-born citizens.
What, no Big Truck for Trump to get in and go "Toot Toot!"?
No speeding around in the Rio Grande in a motorboat? Just stand on the shore and wave in sleepy McAllen?
Put a cage over Trump's head and the problem is half solved. Then get some actual people with brains to work on immigration. Not as some fake GOP fundraiser for terrified people in Ohio.
3
The systemic abuse by illegal immigrants of our border is tangible. I work with a mish-mash of Central American and Chinese illegal immigrants. Cash basis employment in construction. Layers and layers of fraud and fake identifications. Indentured servitude as payment for papers. Gangs hunting down the non-gang workers. This is New York City. How did I get here?
Trump’s posture at the border with props barely scratches what I witness. He’s unable to articulate the real problems and stuck behind his idiotic wall.
Let’s train the US Citizens who are already here for our construction jobs and stop pretending Americans don’t want them. Who came up with that lie?
4
Trump speaks of crime and violence, his supporters cry that these migrants (mostly women and children) are criminals and violent individuals. Even if 1 out of 10 was a criminal that is still less than the criminals who are Americans. Crime and violence is in every neighborhood in every city in every state across our country. Wealthy white neighborhoods, working class neighborhoods, poor inner city neighborhoods their are criminals. Most haven’t been caught. My God, I’m sure that a huge percentage of his own supporters are violent criminals. And the only crisis at the boarder is a humanitarian crisis. Innocent people and children who are being tortured living in over-crowded shelters, in tents, or out in the open, hungry, thirsty, and enduring crime and violence, by the actions of our president. To me, it is impossible to understand how a person such as trump is completely fine with constantly lying, having no honor, totally uncaring about the plight of other human beings, and that the majority of his followers are the same way, and that is something I know firsthand. They call these migrants and immigrants criminals who steal their jobs, all the while praising a man who is a corrupt criminal himself. Trump...a man that someday I hope and pray is wiped from the pages of history and forgotten about with a wall built around his grave by the same immigrants he despises.
3
"Mr. Trump had dismissed the trip to McAllen as a waste of time, a mere photo op."
Since when does he ever miss a photo op?
3
The President is a 2 faced liar. There is no reason to build this wall and the majority of Americans oppose it. Why aren’t we being heard? This situation calls for public demonstrations. We must march!!
McConnell doesn’t care about the wall anymore than Trump does. They are 2 criminals in cahoots with each other, bent on saving a power neither honorably deserve. Birds of a feather:vultures eating away our Democracy.
3
The Wallis not the solution. Go after employers who hire illegals. No jobs no illegals. It is almost that easy.
2
The only border crisis is our immigration laws that say a) if you get into the US, you can apply for Asylum, b) you will be placed in detention while we review your application, c) if you have a child with you, we cannot keep them in detention beyond 20 days, d) when we take the kids from you after 20 days, as the law says, they could be in limbo/placed in a camp that supposedly will care for them, so then comes e) we will release you with a court date for your Asylum case; please return?
Also, if you're pregnant and give birth you now have a US citizen, and if you are granted Asylum, you can now invite your whole family to join, regardless of their circumstances. Have a nice day.
4
The only crisis that we have at our southern border is a bad attitude that turns minor inconveniences that are mostly well managed into a pretend invasion of the barbarian hordes to allow Trump to play hero to his political base supporters.
5
The very fact that Donald is wearing his campaign hat throughout this self-proclaimed photo-op trip to Texas invalidates it as a government sponsored trip and it must be treated as a campaign trip. Trump's 2020 campaign owes the US Treasury a reimbursement for all travel costs.
10
Please let us know what you mean by: "But there was another reality." No, there is one reality: there is no crisis at the border. The rest is Trump's delusion, to which democratic institutions continue to be held hostage. It would be helpful if the media did not continue to engage, even faintly, in such "on the one hand, but on the other hand" timidity.
8
Given that McAllen has physical barriers at the border and a low violent crime rate, concluding that physical barriers are not needed defies logic.
Concluding it shows no barriers are needed is similar to having a group of children in the 1950s who had polio vaccines, and then saying that the fact that none of the children had polio is proof that polio vaccines are not needed or that the vaccine does not work.
A US city near the border and near a town in Mexico, where the border does not have physical barriers would be the test. If this US city had a low crime rate, that would be evidence that physical barriers are not needed in that area.
4
Richard,
Simple Google/Bing gives us...
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/05/us/border-wall.html
https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/the-fbis-list-of-the-most-dangerous-cities-in-texas/
"Border cities get a bad rap as violent, but the Rio Grande Valley is extremely safe. Of the 24 Texas metro areas ranked by the FBI, Brownsville comes in dead last, with 240 incidents of violent crime per 100,000 people. Nearby McAllen comes in at #18, with 286 per 100,000."
2
Confused - on The Daily this morning you have a long interview with a Border Sheriff, who is clearly a pretty well informed individual on this topic, saying very clearly that he believes that this IS indeed a crisis. And that a wall, as part of a broader package of measures, is an appropriate way of getting things under control. Which is it? Crisis or no crisis?
2
If Donnie was the developer he purports to be, he would put more effort into building roads, bridges, schools and hospitals instead of this nonsense and reap the civic and political mileage that would bring. But, he isn't and he won't. So ... on to the theater!
5
I live 30 miles east of McAllen, Texas in a city of 78,000 people and have for over 20 years. I'm originally from New York. Whenever I go up north, people ask me, "Aren't you afraid to live there?" The answer is "No." It's not that different than living on Long Island. We have beautiful beaches, subdivisions and shopping malls just like most of American suburbia; one difference is that instead of driving through a metropolis to get anywhere else, we drive through a desolate ranchland. We are a 4 hour drive to get to Austin and a 6 hour drive to get to Houston.
Yes, we have problems stemming from poverty (my county is one of the poorest in the nation) and lack of education (half of our children don't graduate from high school and consequently have trouble finding well paying jobs) and we are the last part of our country that is not connected to a complete Interstate system, all of which have nothing to do with this so-called crisis.
This $5 billion of our tax money the President is demanding for building a useless wall would be better spent on health, education and infrastructure. He'd rather feed his ego than make America greater.
11
Watch the interview with Hannity at the border. Hannity keeps feeding ideas to Trump — soundbite intros — and Trump simply can’t catch on and wanders away about “what’s wrong with walls being medieval — so are wheels, and all these marvelous machine-gun equipped border patrol vehicles have wheels” (somewhat paraphrased to make a modicum of sense out of Trump’s glazed meanderings).
If reporters conveyed any sense of how spaced out Trump is, there would be no need to wonder what he is up to (he has no idea) or what he is thinking (thought is inconceivable). The guy is gonzo and having him “in charge” is pure fiction.
It’s time Melania talked to Mitch and prepared Trump’s exit. Let the guy go. It is unmerciful to have him propped up to go through the motions.
5
Not a crisis: a temper tantrum.
Not a national emergency: a temper tantrum.
Not negotiating: a temper tantrum
Not governing: a temper tantrum.
7
Why do protestors always pick the days trump is out of Washington? They need to protest daily while he is in the White House so he can see them outside his windows. The numbers should exceed his praise & worship rallies.
There is no crisis except what trump has caused by HIS shutdown.
And someone should tell him the only reason medival walls worked were because there were archers & bowmen on the ramparts. Is trump planning on making the wall wide enough to position snipers & gunmen to defend the wall? Maybe they can pour flaming oil down from above onto the migrants trying to get over the wall.
1
Trump and Nielson down there in McAllen in their vests and windbreakers in 80 degree weather while guarded by camo wearing border patrol, and waving at a guy in a helicopter not getting paid. Dan Patrick, the Lt. Gov who has been treated for mental illnesses and who still continues to push conspiracies stands by to interpret the "cover up". Trump's stylists throw a bag of dollars on a table signifying something. The ghost of Hunter Thompson is surely hovering nearby, summoned up by this much crazy in one spot.
So WHY if Trump and the GOP had 2 years of total control are they yammering about this wall? The democrats have been there what- 5 minutes- and Trump is thinking of declaring a National Emergency. Too Weird.
10
Let's compare the number of (white) Americans killed by illegal immigrants to the number killed by native-born (white) Americans bearing firearms. Let's compare the number of (white) Americans killed by illegal immigrants to the number killed by physician-prescribed opioids. Let's compare the number of (white) Americans killed by illegal immigrants to the number killed by workplace accidents and environmental pollution resulting from deregulation. I’m a well-travelled, university-educated “elite” and a military veteran so I might not see things as “clearly” as MAGA “patriots,” but it seems to me that the southern border ranks pretty low as far as "crises" currently facing America go. The "Wall" isn't about security; it’s never been. If Trump and the GOP were truly interested in security, they wouldn't be withholding the pay of front-line TSA and CBP agents, and they would have spent all the money they’ve already been allocated for border security on new equipment and technologies and hiring additional CBP agents (they haven’t). Trump wants a monument to himself, and he and the GOP know they can win votes and enrich themselves (i.e., via construction contracts) by stoking irrational fears about “brown” people. The "Wall" is, and always has been, about vanity, power, greed and racism.
13
A "reality" that a crazy person wants to create is not a reality. There's only one reality.
3
Trump’s real crisis is recent evidence of collusion with Russia. His wall drama is an attempt to divert attention away from all that.
3
The White House says 90% of the heroin entering this country comes over the southern border. Could the Times examine this claim and whether it is true? Heroin is certainly a problem in most of the US.
4
As long as enough people can be frightened, then all people can be ruled. That is how it works in a democratic system and mass fear becomes the ticket to destroy rights across the board.
-James Bovard
2
Wherever trump goes, there is always a crisis... and his loyal Fox Noise:
“The Fox host Sean Hannity stood nearby, waiting for an exclusive interview.”
It *is* all theatrics on trump’s part, reinforced by Fox Noise. He games his unthinking, mass-hypnotized followers. To get this nation back on track, trump supporters are going to have to acquire an education.
This is what happens when Republicans mix trump’s lies with the exceedingly naive population:
“‘They’re coming over in Banzai waves,’ Mr. Cantu said of immigrants crossing into Texas.”
They can’t stop and think about what they said. This absolutely means that trump’s presence on the border was all theatrics that succeeds with his followers.
Democracies depend on educated electorates.
5
Deaths in McAllen, Texas according to the mayor - ZERO.
There is no border crisis or crime immigrant crisis there. I think The Con Don went to McAllen because it's so small and his "bodyguards" - aka OUR Secret Service - could protect him.
He's scared spit less - as well he should be. WE THE PEOPLE are not going to sit idly by while he rants lie after lie and tries to destroy OUR governments and institutions.
Not now. Not ever.
44
@njglea
He wants to take billions from the disaster funds & billions from the infrastructure budget. What happened to his promises of infrastructure improvements? He can only concentrate on one promise at a time? Why is he so scared of Hispanics from Central America?
2
Low violent crime in a border town with physical barriers at the border in no way is evidence that physical barriers are not needed.
A US border town with low crime rates, near a high crime Mexican border town where there are no physical barriers at the border are the instances that could show that physical barriers are not needed to deter violent crime in the US town.
2
Republican congressman Will Hurd just managed to get re-elected, so he represents those who live on one of the longest, thorniest, ugliest, most remote and beautiful stretches of the Rio Grande, much of it Wild and Scenic, by federal law. Trump never listens, but Congressman Hurd's words about a wall, or fence, which he shared on NPR yesterday, are worth considering:
"Well, what a barrier does is it helps increase a Border Patrol agent's response time to something at the border. So that's why where there is urban-to-urban contact, some type of physical barrier makes sense because Border Patrol's response time is measured in seconds to minutes. But in other parts of the border where the response time is measured in hours to days, a wall or a fence is actually not a physical barrier; it's just a complete waste of money."
54
@fs Words from someone who actually knows what he's talking about? Trump's auditory nerve endings don't respond to that.
1
So... climate change and the resulting increases in natural disasters, cracks in the ice shelf in Antarctica, measurable increases in global temperature which surpass expected increases, and the astonishing increase in the extinction rate is NOT a crisis? But illegal border crossings at the lowest rate in decades at our Southern border is? I'd say history will not be kind to these fools, but I'm not sure any of us will be around to remember them.
63
@L
The silver lining of him making this argument and the mostly sycophantic yes(mostly)men in the Senate and the House with the Rs next to their names are parroting it is that when someone sane gets elected, they can use the argument for declaring the climate crisis a national emergency and there will be precedent. Also, unlike the "border crisis," it will actually be true.
Interesting article about Brownsville TX. All of us, especially Trump, should look at Google Maps to see all the bends in the Rio Grande. If you follow the satellite view it’s obvious that a fence or wall is just not realistic. Plus, most of the land on the Texas side appears to be private farmland. It will likely take years to condemn the private farms. Walls just are not a practical solution in so many border areas. Take a look; it’s easy to see!
41
I live outside of Brownsville and there is a border wall in Brownsville. In many cases it buts up against neighborhoods. There is an influx of drugs run through by the cartel and people being led across the river and over the wall by coyotes. Many more cameras, agents on the line and sensors would immensely help the Border Patrol deter this behavior.
3
Border Guards are civil servants and should not be used as props in political advertising, even if many of them like the idea of the wall. Also Congressman Will Hurd, a Republican whose district covers about half of the Texas-Mexico border is one of the most articulate and well informed opponents of the wall idea. The rare Republicans sighted in McAllen are not representative of the population there needless to say.
47
But Molly, if you thought the Border Guards were opposed to the wall, you would be OK with it, correct? They're the ones that have to deal with the problem, and it is a major problem, even Clinton and Obama mentioned it. But SO MUCH MONEY IS BEING MADE OFF THEM, by a small percentage of Americans, and the rest of us have to take up the slack and pay for everything else.
1
Yes! By all means lets all camp out on the border, with Trump, Cruz and Nielsen decked out in outdoor gear. Meanwhile the shutdown compromises airports and ports manned by federal workers which are the real points of vulnerability. This is a shameful indulgence and coddling of Trump by the GOP...led by McConnell and Graham. Its is some relief though to see many border republicans-politicians, law enforcement and general population, share in the belief that a wall does nothing to address our problem.
31
Why are people so blind to the crisis at the border?
2
I assume for the same reason that people are blind to the threat NATO poses, or our aggressive northern neighbor Canada. People are also blind to the threat that the FBI, CIA, DOJ, EPA, Rule of Law, Free Press, Judicial Branch, and other "Deep State" Institutions pose. To be honest I can't keep track of all the crises that Donald has told me to fear - I am exhausted!
4
@NYC Dweller
Why? Because claims to support the "crisis" are built on blatant lies.
Ex 1) "4000 terrorists" intercepted at the border, except that nearly all were intercepted at airports, nearly none at the southern border
Ex 2) "We have an opioid crisis and drugs are pouring over the border" except that most of the killer opioids come in containers from China, others in containers at legal border crossings at the southern border, and very little carried across the border where a wall might stop them
Ex 3) Murderers, rapists, violent criminals are sneaking in" except that data shows that immigrants, legal and illegal, have a lower violent crime rate than natives.
There surely is a border problem, but Trump's hysterical lies and wild exaggerations have weakened his case. Yes, fix the problem, but don't pretend it is a "crisis," an "emergency," or an "existential threat." Let's have a rational conversation, based on facts not lies.
5
@NYC Dweller
perhaps because smoke and mirrors make it hard to see reality, as in what crisis?
4
“What’s manufactured is the word manufactured”. Anyone speak fluent trumpese well enough to explain this statement?
11
"Manufactured " comes from a manufactory, so check the use-by-date before you use it.
2
If building a wall we’re so worthless and ineffective in reducing the unlawful flow of immigrants into the US, then why did Senators Schumer and Obama and Representative Pelosi previously vote to allocate billions of dollars for that exact purpose?
4
@Guapoboy they allocated money for the repair and updating of the existing wall in urban areas Guapo. They did not allocate a dime to building a wall along the rio grande or in the desert.
5
@Guapoboy
They voted for fence repair--a much cheaper, less dramatic remedy--along with other security measures, in the context of a larger solution, to immigration problems, including paths to citizenship for dreamers and others. Trump won't bring the rest of the issues to the table because the "wall" is just a big, very expensive symbol, not a solution.
4
@Guapoboy Why? Well they didn't, so the answer is pretty clear. Revisit the legislation, see what it ACTUALLY says. Maybe you'll be surprised at the inaccuracy of the "information" you've been given.
2
Hmmm, I bet a lot of well connected people are excited about getting fat off of the big government contracts to build the wall. Welfare for the rich. Much more expensive than some low income skalliwag scamming a few cans of extra soup and maybe a pack of cigarettes.
17
I think Michael Tackett and Mitchell Ferman are also living in a reality different from the one in which I am living. In their reality, supposedly, immigrants are eager to get good educations; eager to learn English; eager to work at highly skilled jobs; eager to learn an American democratic values. In the reality I see in California, illegal immigrants bring over illegal immigrant family members; these illegal families will live a dozen in a single house breaking housing codes; immigrants to the US haven't learned English after years and years of living in this nation (my local Home Depot pipes in only Spanish music and announcements); immigrants treat democratic values as negligible and only value hard cash; immigrants only value education for its usefulness to make money. While Tackett and Ferman seem to think of an integrated Benetton ad melting pot, my reality is tribalism and cronyism not integration. Pretty soon, the New York Times will need to publish its US edition in Spanish, and Tackett and Ferman will need to brush up their Spanish. These are economic migrants, not refugees: they value $$$$ not democracy and free speech. If the GDP of Mexico suddenly skyrocketed, these economic migrants would take an immediate U-turn from the U.S. back to Mexico.
10
@Iris
I'd go too if I could make money there!
It's a beautiful country.
1
I live in San Jose and see all sorts of immigrants - from hardworking and cheerful janitors and cleaners to tech company CEOs - many of whom are immigrants. Most are good and some, I’m sure are bad (anyone heard of Theranos?).
In such a melting pot, one can selectively choose what one wants to see. But the world would be a lot worse off if we weren’t a melting pot.
3
@Irishey Iris, so you dont value an education as a way to make better money? Ok, I think many people would disagree with that, especially the employers that pay more for educated employees. If you are living next to a birder why don't you know how to speak Spanish? If you loved in Germany you would know how to speak spanish and possibly french. Ignorance is not bliss. Also, as far as communities go, come to brooklyn, go to brighton beach or ittle italy or chinatown. or even say,Lancaster PA . There are rich vibrant communites who have decided to keep their cultural heritage intact . Don't be afriad of people because they have a dfferent language or skin clor. They still love their children, enjoy a good laugh, value hard work and honesty .
2
Young Donald must've seen this as a kid and it festered in his fevered brain ever since, only to emerge as his one "big idea" and guiding principle -- It all makes sense now...
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trackdown-trump-character-wall
3
Did the American People just pay for this campaign kickoff trip and photo op? If the president* is wearing a campaign sticker on his forehead is it an official governmental trip or is this another campaign contribution?
When you control the House, Senate, and White House for two years, cannot pass any funding for a "wall or whatever" and then when the Constitutional checks and balances finally kick in, claim a "crisis" the reality is that it is a BIG LIE and a complete failure of the GOP to actually govern and not obstruction on the part of the opposition party.
SWEEP THEM OUT
57
Trump, and the media, like to focus on two instances when immigrants killed people to argue that immigrants are killers. NYTimes, could you please publish the number of refugees and immigrants who have died crossing the border, including the two children who now have died? I suspect that number of immigrants who lost their lives trying to flee from violence in their countries is much greater than the few citizens who Trump endlessly exaggerates. The despair and neediness of those seeking asylum here should be included in every story.
15
@Eero I agree with your core point here, but I believe the two sets of data are not related, and that trying to connect them plays to Trump's favor. I believe resolving crime in the USA won't resolve crime in South and Central America and vice versa. I believe the problems; resolving the crises in S/C America, resolving the growing crisis on the border, and resolving US crime; are all separate issues which unfortunately require distinct, focused effort. Our job as citizens is to make sure the government doesn't lose sight of all of them. and it's the government's job to resolve all of them. I believe the correlation you're asking for strengthens the argument that a single solution, can fix all of the problems. That's problematic for two big reasons, the first being that it creates the argument that all we need is a wall, but it additionally give Republicans ammunition "Dems don't want a wall, therefore they don't care about human suffering." I'm not saying either is a good argument, but connecting all the issues at hand here creates a platform for those bad arguments to exist. Again, I don't disagree that the human cost on our southern border and beyond is an a issue, I'm just concerned that connecting that to every story on the southern border is bad messaging.
3
The only "crisis" is the one this president is creating for border guards and other federal employess who aren't getting paid.
35
This coming from someone living in an alternate universe. Where are all of he "immigrants" running across the border? Where are all of the military tackling "immigrants" and pulling them back over to the Mexican border? There are no such photographs because there is no such crisis. This latest "trumped-up" scenario is in response to Michael Cohen (who has already been sentenced and will serve a 3 year prison term) who will be testifying under oath in front of Congress on February 7th. This border drama is nothing more than smoke and mirrors from The Master Provocateur.
20
Border Patrol Agent: we found this tunnel right where there is a wall.
Trump: radio silence.
27
Even his props are lies.
13
McAllen TX is where there's a wall, that's why the crime rate is so low! Understand now?
3
@Ross Stuart
Um. Except there is no wall in McAllen as a simple use of Google Earth will demonstrate to you. It is a fence. Once you get away from the controlled crossing points it is not a particularly high fence.
So, no. That isn't why crime is low.
There is no border crisis except in the fevered imaginations of racists that think any brown person is a crisis.
3
@Ross Stuart
there is no wall in McAllen it is a fence
2
@Ross Stuarta wall with a tunnel under it.
1
He needs a wall to keep the people in when it hits the fan! I am predicting 300M refugees once DJT or his successor declares martial law.
5
NY Times; what is with your 'apples & oranges' logic; crime is @ a 30-year low.... therefore no need to protect our border?
Every nation HAS immigration laws - some, such as Bermuda, won't let one immigrate unless they can prove their financials. They don't want to be a welfare state.
Yes, I know; 'give me your sick, your tired...', but, that was over a century ago, and immigrants today (unlike those before), don't want to be part of the nation - they want to make money to send out. They also do a massive injustice to the MILLIONS who have LEGALLY immigrated.
The day you, or anyone can prove theirs a huge problem of illegal immigrants trying to enter this country - from Canada, THEM E people might listen.
Enough.
3
@U.N. Owen
and where would you be if immigrants were denied entry at Ellis Island or modern points of entry? Are you Native American whose ancestors were here when the whites arrived at Jamestown & Plymouth Rock?
2
@Nostradamus Said So Why stop in the 15th century? Go all the way back to the Big Bang if you want to be accurate. Didn't pine trees and squirrels first REALLY own the North American region? What right did the native Americans have to STEAL this land from the squirrels? Why don't we serve our Squirrel Masters in North America? It really seems like Native Americans ought to cede their casinos and reservations to the Squirrel Masters who rightfully own the continent.
This is a manufactured crisis designed to score political points. A total disgrace and waste of Tax Payer money. I assume come 2020 Republicans will want to talk about Government spending and the need to "tighten" our collective belts. This entire mess is on them.
19
Oh honestly, does anyone, anyone, even people who like him believe that Bone Spurs would go to an area where there was a crisis? He won’t chance mussing his coif, let alone risking life or limb.
I am sure he is very relieved not to have to travel to Davos, as he wouldn’t want a repeat of his UN General Assembly speech. Donald is the laughingstock of the world but his fawning staff usually shield him from it; it was a bit jarring for the old boy to be laughed at in his face.
18
"...You'll have crime in New York." Absolutely true. It is called The Trump Organization.
31
Since when does someone declare a National Emergency when he doesn't get his way?
20
This desperate situation for these Central Americans and their influx into the United States will not be improved measurably until we address the issues in the countries themselves from which these families are fleeing . Maybe I’m missing something but can’t that 5 billion dollars that Trump wants for a wall be better served by putting those funds towards security in the dangerous barrios of Honduras , Guatemala and El Salvador where the problem emanates from?
No one is talking about this solution . It’s time we did .
7
You’re missing something. Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are hopelessly corrupt. The billions of dollars you’re suggesting we could invest in promoting a better future for those countries would quietly make their way to the Swiss bank accounts of those nations’ leaders. Same as it ever was.
1
Democrats would do well in this case to adopt an adult role by removing the political calculus from this noxious contretemps.
Make a splashy offer to trade funding for the wall in exchange for reopening government, the cancellation of Trump's revocation protected immigrant status and his destruction of DACA. Take it or leave it, Mr. President.
As a practical matter, funding for the wall will make little difference, except for the mindless waste of nearly $6 billion. Extending the government shutdown indefinitely, however, will cost much more in the long run.
A majority of Americans want a government, any government, even one that its own leaders abuse so blithely. The Democrats have a winning hand here, simply by loudly and boldly proposing a compromise that sustains a government that taxpayers are forced to finance whether it functions or not.
3
I have given free legal assistance to those seeking to cross the US-Mexico border for asylum and have heard their stories. Most recently, a man fled his home country in Central America where gang violence is rampant, bringing his 10 year old. The interview with the asylum officer was delayed because the overwrought son was having a meltdown in the hallway. The man explained how the gang first shot one of his brothers dead before his eyes, then later shot his other brother 3 times. In the meantime they made threats to the man that they would kill all the brothers, and he would be the last. He is terrified of returning home. These are the kind of people who are coming to the border. There is a crisis at the border. But it is a humanitarian crisis, not Trump's make believe crisis of terrorists and drug dealers flooding into the US.
19
Why wasn't it a crisis when he had the majority in both houses for 2 years? Could it be because the next campaign was still too far off?
32
More reality TV is what this is and theatrics. I believe he assumes that if he harps on this enough incessantly, people will just give in and capitulate and he will have won because it seems like it is always a contest and a battle of wits with Trump. Who blinks first; who wavers first. He is nothing if not persistent, to a fault. And the claim that he knows what people want and how they feel and that is okay with them? I believe there is no substance there. Look at the mid-terms. And in order to save face, he declared "almost a complete success". It is like Bizarro World and everything is opposite of reality and then some just go along with it. I have been doing a lot of scratching my head and wondering if I am hearing things correctly or maybe I am the one that just boarded the Crazy Train. A lot of alternative reality here.
9
From McAllen:
Thank you for saying at least a bit about our pleasant city, McAllen, and our low crime rate. But please also say something about the local damage the wall will do.
Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, the jewel of our area, Bentsen State Park, and the important NABA butterfly center are all threatened by proposed border walls. (And Santa Ana is affected by the shutdown as well.)
I once served on the Citizens Forum of the International Boundary and Water Commission, and I can tell you that we periodically face genuine flooding threats from the Rio Grande which a wall will exacerbate.
37
I'm wondering if shock therapy would awaken this dreadful excuse for a president. The welfare of our citizens should be his primary goal. He doesn't have the chops to negotiate and America loses.
23
A few years ago in west Texas I stood on the banks of the calf-deep Rio Grande and watched people wade across to sell their souvenirs to tourists. Then they waded back 60 feet to Mexico. Trump is simply on another of his campaign trips - this time to McCallen - and it will be staged to look like he is "saving" our country from savages. His five billion demand for an easily circumvented wall will morph into 25 billion wasted dollars and Trump claiming he saved the world with our taxpayer dollars. He's gone bankrupt six times, let's not let him bankrupt us.
46
Of course we need a wall. Once these illegals cross into our country, they are free to roam about and settle where ever they please. We have no way of tracking there whereabouts or know anything about their past. They may be criminals, drug traffickers, human smugglers and other dangerous individuals. We are putting our own citizens at risk but the Democrats are more concerned about the wellbeing of illegals than US citizens. Nancy Pelosi was upset about the two children who died which was tragic but had little sympathy for Officer Singh of California, the legal immigrant killed by an illegal immigrant. Isn't that tragic too. Did you see his heartbroken brother on TV. Mr. Singh leaves a five-month old baby fatherless.
People want the wall and this is why many voted for President Trump. He promised he would build this wall but the Democrats are determined to not give it to him. Their hatred of him trumps the safety and security of the American people. I hope the voters remember this in the 2020 elections and do not cast their votes for the Democrat party who cares more about illegals than their own citizens. This is outrageous.
6
He had a republican congress for two years, why wasn’t the wall funded at that point?
22
@WPLMMT - Immigration is at an all time low, immigrants commit crimes at a far lower percentage than natives, and, at last count, 59% of Americans do NOT want the wall.
15
@WPLMMT
Only 34% of Americans want the wall. Most Americans want common sense border security that works.
You are in the minority, BY FAR. Your fellow Americans don't want the wall. We live in a democracy-- the president failed to get the wall when he controlled both houses. Why? Because the majority of Americans don't want the wall.
Don't you care about democracy? Is the wall more important than democracy?
In terms of people dying, etc. There are 325 million people in this country- most of whom get along. However, you can find people who kill each other of all colors, shapes, sizes, creeds, genders, etc. Basically, you see what you want to see. For some reason, it seems you want to believe there's this horde of evil-doers who want to come and take your stuff.
I expect you also believed Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
15
The reporters wrongly depict the Trump supporters and border wall resisters as "a draw." This is completely inaccurate. The community protestors far exceeded the number of misinformed Trumpsters. People in the Rio Grande Valley despise Trump's wall and this is not indicated sufficiently in this story.
82
@Terry Garrett
Thank you! I live here, too, and I can confirm your observations.
NYT, give a more accurate picture!
3
@Terry Garrett Thanks for this local note of clarification. It is one of the main reasons I read the comments; often more information than is covered in a story, or explanation of an odd tossed-out fact.
1
The photo op made Trump look like a man in search of a golf course rather than a high level executive government official dealing with an emergency and crisis (of his own making, of course!)
28
Eva Braun is looking haggard and is very snappish. Child kidnapping and neglect/abuse DOES have that effect, even on Monsters.
Just saying.
18
What a terrible strategy. Trump traveled to McAllen, one of the bluest areas in Texas, in a failed attempt to drum up a nonexistent border crisis from people who didn't vote for him, don't care for him, and support him even less than they did when he first entered office.
26
Except for those that guard the border. They know the real story about uncontrolled masses of people coming across. "But what about the children? Trump is killing them and taking them hostage and taking them from their parents.....". Dont put your kids at risk . I certainly wouldn't. I am pretty sure most of you wouldn't.
@BorisRoberts
I live within easy sight of the border, and have Bored Patrol agents as neighbors.
They are not known as the “Bored Patrol” here for nothing.
There are no “uncontrolled masses”.
There is NO CRISIS.
1
My family and I went to McAllen yesterday to protest building the wall. We saw President Trump's vehicle go by. The protesters by far outnumbered the supporters, but the news media does not say that. There is a man in Mexico who becoming a rich man by building ladders for people to scale the existing wall! McAllen is one of the safest places according to statistics and the Mayor. Does anyone wonder why we don't use E Verify instead of building the wall?
34
@Diana
Probably because half of Trump's employees at his golf resorts or hotels won't pass the test.
Of course, when that is pointed out to Trump, he wlll default to his favorite imbecilic muttering:
"I didn't know about that".
Why is Trump so thick with the country who actually sent the 9-11 terrorists by plane ? I think the press needs to investigate that.
Please, free press, begin to challenge him at every opportunity. Challenge him directly, not just in the articles you publish. Discuss amongst yourselves the importance of exposing him every opportunity you have in an effort to display to the American people what a fraud this man is. Demand answers during press conferences, push him when he becomes evasive and stick together when he refuses to directly address certain outlets.
If need be, walk out of press conferences he holds when he refuses to confront facts. Do it collectively in a sign of solidarity. A segment of the American public still believes his bunk. He lies and they believe his lies. Challenge him to address his lies and you will expose him for the fraud he actually is.
It's nice to see fact checking segments, but sadly, the average American just hears his rhetoric and buys it. Make him uncomfortable.
We've become so accustomed to our president lying that we begin to accept a degree of lying. Then when he drops whoppers, we just shrug it off as "that's just how he operates." We need to reject the notion that this is how the leader of the free world should behave. If he behaves like a child, treat him like a child. Respect is earned. He has demeaned the office of the presidency to levels I could not have imagined, therefore he doesn't deserve the respect provided to his predecessors.
45
Great idea. Yes, “free press,” please behave like a political advocacy group and challenge Trump no matter what he says. Please don’t let the possibility that Trump speaks for any Americans who want a wall ever become apparent. Only by trashing Trump will you be promoting the alleged journalistic goal of engaging in a marketplace of ideas.
3
More drugs and weapons than that were seized in Philadelphia. Yesterday.
There is no "crisis." A 15 year $25,000,000,000 (lowest estimate) civil engineering project is not a response to a "crisis" even if there was one.
He is lying and is picking this fake fight to divert attention from the FACT that he is a criminal likely to face a massive avalanche of indictments of everyone around him, and to try to cover for the massive criminality of his administration
37
The only crisis I experience when I travel to the Rio Grande Valley to let my kids visit with their grandparents is the hold up 100 miles in from the border, in a two-bit town called Armstrong, where we have to stop with dozens of other cars, wait on a highway in the middle of essentially nowhere, and get questioned by Border Patrol for not even leaving Texas. This is what freedom feels like, right?
52
Same thing on the I-10 in New Mexico between Las Cruces and Deming: a large checkpoint entirely within U.S. territory. A weekly annoyance I had to endure for the many years that we were there.
I think in response to 9/11. Started with W and continued with Obama.
It never seemed very American to me.
9
A logical person would say that if there truly was a crisis anywhere in the country then you would want to have the full force of the government working in order to fix the crisis.
Trump's thinking is so one sided that it definitely calls into question his mental stability.
Our government needs it's full work force ASAP.
24
Why didn’t Trump and entourage go the San Diego to see the real Border wall? McAllen TX has a population of 150,000 - a sleepy border town. What is the daily crossing? San Ysidro is the busiest -bristling with cameras, dogs, agents and 3 hour waits has hundreds of thousands of legal crossings a day. Trump on the bank of the Rio Grande waving at the unpaid Border Control agents in the helicopter was insulting. The Republican Senate is lock step with Trump - they, not the Democrats are the real roadblock without the courage to challenge Trump - for the people.
51
We are not a sleepy town, ma’am. Over 100,000 people cross every day - peacefully I might add - to conduct commerce and visit familia on both sides of the Rio Grande. The visit was a complete sham.
14
Those who claim it was manufactured, she said, “insulted” Americans.
No, Kirstjen. You insult Americans every time you open your mouth. Your mentor, John Kelly, had the decency to pack it in.
69
The border crisis is called Trump.
40
How many murders in McAllen this year? 0...
Be Afraid for our country
47
That’s because, according to Trump, the murderers cross the border there and then immediately travel to New Hampshire and other Red states in the north to kill people.
1
Even if you disagree with Trump what is the point in putting the word “crisis” in quotes? Isn’t it a direct attribution? Surely you are aware that putting a word in quotes implicitly questions the legitimacy of its usage. How about quoting his entire phrase instead. I happen to be mainly in agreement with the NYTimes, but this stealth editorializing is troubling.
3
Did anyone count the cash in the bag to make sure it was all still there?
18
There are three elements of border control policy. Enforcement, processing, and overall strategy.
Enforcement is the easiest, and statistics show that we have it largely solved. We can tweak it with technology, but our border is secure.
Processing under the Trump administration is failing, apparently intentionally. New applicants for asylum are not being treated with the respect and humanity they deserve, by law and by simple decency.
And I see no evidence of ANY thought on overall strategy. The only strategy on immigration seems to be: call it to a halt. That is not our national heritage.
The legacy of FDRs Good Neighbor policy; or JFKs Alliance for Progress; would argue for a new shift toward partnering with our neighbors to the south in mitigating the causes of migration.
The money spent on a useless wall could be spent on actually solving the problems real human beings are facing. It is in our national interest; it is also the humane and decent approach to immigration strategy.
68
Feel this. No Wall.
12
This is nore of a US constitutional crisi than a boarder crisis.
15
Nice work, canvassing the area around McAllen to uncover the handful of people who hate our President anyway and fit neatly into the left's narrative.
There are none so blind ...
2
@JBC
... as those who refuse to see just what a disaster trump is.
4
@JBC See what? There’s nothing there!
1
@JBC You are absolutely correct, there are none so blind as Trump supporters like you who admire the worst President in the history of our country. : "Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not."
6
What total nonsense this man blurts. He’s clearly damaged but I’m wondering how the enablers in the Republican Party think they can walk back from all this in a few years?
26
Nothing could convince me less of a real emergency than watching Trump strut and preen, gesticulating wildly in front of a machine gun and a camera, his voice amplified to that familiar Baby Huey tone of whining self-pity and mocking rage.
63
“The Fox host Sean Hannity stood nearby, waiting for an exclusive interview.”
That’s all I need to know.
65
The Democratic argument appears to be "the illegal immigration numbers are down from previous years so there's no crisis"
It's like saying "there were fewer murders in Chicago this month than last month so we don't need to take action
5
To be sure, there are significant challenge and shortcomings in current US immigration laws, policies, and enforcement, but they don’t require shutting down the government or declaring a State of Emergency. Nor do they require building a wall from “sea to shining sea.” Nor do they require creating a slush fund, putatively for a “big, beautiful wall,” for which no detailed cost breakdowns, efficacy analyses, feasibility studies, engineering models, environmental impact statements, legal groundwork, or accountability protocols have been performed or made public.
26
@Luciano I think the Democrats romanticize and idealize the law-breaking immigrants whose deep love for their families drove them to break immigration laws; then to break employment laws by working without legal permits; then to break tax laws by not paying all of their income taxes; then to break schooling laws by sending their kids to US schools without paying local taxes; then to break hospital laws by using medical care without paying taxes; then to break driving laws by driving without a drivers license, registration, and car insurance. But hey? Isn't Bernie Sanders able to give his rousing speeches in fluent Spanish? He better be studying Spanish since many immigrants don't learn enough English to communicate. How do you write, "where do we go from here," in Spanish?
3
@Iris I do not know about CA but in NM any child who is residing in this state can and must attend school. Renters do not pay property taxes which support schools but no one would deny their children schooling because they do not own property... You do realize the US revolution was based in part on the discrimination between property owners and non property owners re voting... What do you mean they didn't pay "all" of their income taxes? What is your source of information?
6
I am at a loss trying to understand why the conversation remains at this oversimplified stage as immigration issues are not dealt with responsibly. Immigration and it’s related violations and abuses are not new, and law and policy should most definitely be reviewed, debated and updated.
It is incomprehensible why we don’t expand the immigration court system to legally process offenders. With only 326 immigration judges for approximately 600,000 cases, (that’s roughly 1835 per judge each year) these IJs average 800 cases, so a tremendous backlog continually exists. Now they are stopped from their work in a shutdown, and instead of solutions, the situation is being exacerbated. CPB and ICE do the difficult work of finding and processing violators, and now go without pay? Where is the logic in this?
Where are the political discussions of depth- beginning with why it’s important we remain a country that accepts people in need, to the debate of current law so that process and regulatory changes can happen.
If asylum is too complex to start the discussion, begin with the primary reason people come to the US illegally- to work. Take a hard look at penalizing employers, or increasing the availability of unskilled labor visas. As is, we are creating a sub-economy of cheap, hidden, unprotected labor, a step above slavery, and you can be sure someone at the top is benefitting.
Walls. So not the real issue.
109
Thank you, Sarah, for your thoughtful commentary, which has, unfortunately, become increasingly rare in this soundbite, band-aid solution culture we live in. Like my father, I was born and raised in McAllen, TX, and I couldn't agree more--walls are "so not the real issue."
37
@Sarah To be sure Sarah - a certain golf resort in New Jersey is in fact under the microscope. FBI and state officials discovered that the employer was providing fake green cards and social security ids to undocumented workers there. It is owner by some guy named trump. A two bit con man with deep mafia ties in North Jersey and New York going back to the 1980s when he ran into financial troubles and the mob bailed him out.
Story ran in this very paper. He apparently has been hiring undocumented workers in his properties in New York and Chicago as well, maybe in all of them. Not a surprise since he built his "trademark" building in New York city using undocumented workers he brought in from Poland, and married a woman who was working in the US illegally without proper visas.
33
@Susan Of course not. The real issue is Trump and his followers don't like brown and black people, and view tham as an existential threat. It's no more complicated than that no matter how they'd like to couch it.
22
The one thing we can bet on, with 100% confidence, is that Trump is going to lie.
How sad that we went from a President who could not tell a lie, to a president who could not tell the truth.
39
Congress should confine Trump to the Whitehouse for the duration of the shutdown. If he wants to do campaign photo-ops, he should pay the full cost out of his pocket.
25
I find it disgusting that, while everyone else has been forced to close down parks and historic sites, etc., the old clock tower in Trump's Post Office hotel is still open.
There are still 3 federal employees that are tasked with giving tours of that. It is okay with Trump if OTHER people are hurting, but he's not doing himself out of one thin dime.
I also find it disgusting that the ugly people in our country are using the Trump Shutdown to vandalize or national parks and destroy them.
People have been cutting down the trees in Joshua Tree National Park, driving all over in vehicles, and leaving graffiti everywhere.
It is like a large portion of the population just abandoned any sense of morals, values, or character, and have decided it is okay to let out their inner pig.
40
Now clearly boxed in by his idea, too naive for a 4th grader to have thought of, let’s just keep him in the corner. Every news media should spot out quick simple facts. Drugs come over bridges; illegal entry by terrorists is more likely by plane; we are more likely to shoot ourselves than illegal immigrants. Keep boxing in the man destroying our country. It’s the most American act to take, right now.
29
Did anyone count that bag of $362,062 in cash after Trump left? I'm guessing it's a little lighter now.
23
@J
He'll have it sent over to the Whiteness House later. He's trying to appear less crass. Well, probably he's not. But it wouldn't look good to grab and go.
2
Yes, J, The Con Don is probably getting a cut of all the "confiscated" money.
I read an article last week about the sheriff who took over from "corrupt Sheriff Joe" in Maricopa County, AZ that said he pocketed millions of dollars in money meant to feed immigrants and prisoners. Apparently their "law" allows sheriffs to keep half the money they "save" on the program.
Law enforcement across America, which probably includes supposed "border patrol", also can keep money and articles confiscated in drug raids or from "suspected" drug dealers. Talk about a license to steal.
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It's hopeless. The is simply delusional. Impeachment is the only answer.
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@Joseph Tierno It's delusional to think that spending other peoples' money and other peoples' resources never ends. Even other people run out of money and resources. If the Democrats keep giving away education and giving away medical care and giving away housing to illegal immigrants, who is going to pay for this? At some point, the schools are overcrowded so students don't learn. At some point, the hospitals turn away sick people since there are no more doctors and no more beds. At some point, the housing is used up. Having open borders is delusional so shut the borders with a wall and establish a sustainable immigration policy ruled by law.
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@Iris’ argument suffers from false equivalency; the opposite of building a wall is NOT open borders.
We do not have lack of housing from “illegals”, we do not have overcrowded schools from “illegals”, we do not have people turned away at hospitals because of “illegals”. Stop looking to blame “others”—it’s a straw man tactic, a bogeyman. Look to the facts, they exist independent of opinion— and turn off Fox News!
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@Daniette If no wall, then what? Are you willing to start enforcing the existing law? At this point, even that seems to be too much to do. So then what? It is astonishing to me that so many are so unable to see a problem, or is it that acknowledging a problem makes people feel uncomfortable? That’s just not going to cut it anymore. I have no more momey to give to the cause of supporting millions of people from other countries, and I can assure you it has nothing to do with Fox news.
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Trump didn’t want to face the consequences of his manufactured humanitarian disaster so he avoided visiting a detention center. But what a show he put on! Big bag of cash! Did it have a dollar sign painted on it? I feel like we are living inside a cartoon.
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@Karen RB Someone from Minnesota has no idea what people actually living in highly immigrated destinations are seeing. Most illegal immigrants are not flocking to Minnesota. Yes, there may be a pocket of immigrants here in St. Paul and there in Minneapolis, but the really big city-states of illegal immigrants are in Texas, Arizona, California, New Mexico. If you don't speak fluent Spanish, then you are not ready for this immigration flood anymore than are Tackett and Ferman. The big bag of cash is what economic migrants are after, too. They're not seeking rules of law nor democracy nor free speech; these economic migrants want $$$.
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@iris: From your ID, it appears you do not live in the Rio Grande Valley, nor have you visited. I’m an eleven year resident of the region, a transplanted Anglo-American from the northeast US. If you choose to open your eyes rather than close your mind, you’ll understand the nuanced reality of this section of the border. A gleaming wall is not the answer. Smarter immigration strategies are.
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@Iris. I hope you do know that there are illegals crossing our northern border as well as the southern border and Minnesota is on the northern border.
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I'm confused. The contraband he has on display were confiscated at legal points of entry. Does he envision his ridiculous wall running through those checkpoints too? Does he think there should be no land traffic at all between Mexico and the United States, legal or otherwise? When will he move to ban air traffic?
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This morning I watched a spot on the News in which a member of our border patrol explained to the President how tunnels have been dug under some of the walls already in place. The President wearing a white hat this time with that slogan "Make America Great Again" listened and nodding his head. I don't think he was processing anything at all. Some one please tell me when those halcyon existed for the nation. I think that we have always been a great country, but a work in progress as well. When times were great for some people other Americans were suffering greatly.
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Suggestion, if Texas politicians are convinced we need a wall, let them foot the bill. Heck they're a big, huge state, I'm sure their frightened citizens wouldn't mind.
Oh and we can have Ted Cruz head up construction. At least it will keep him out of Washington for awhile.
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@cherrylog754
Texas politicians may want the wall, but the majority of Texans don't. This is a state with a serious commitment to private property rights. Texas ranchers along the border will not give land up without a fight.
Also, those border cities are some of the safest in the state. Dan Patrick doesn't speak for us all.
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The representatives in the districts along the border don't want a wall.
Texas landowners don't want a wall.
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@cherrylog754 I think a wall is a good idea. It's some attempt to set up limits and acknowledge the reality that natural resources are finite.
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People not being paid because of Donald Trump's petulant behavior:
- Border agents
- TSA agents
- Coast Guard employees
Every one of them are tasked with protecting us from terrorists and stemming the flow of drugs into our country.
THAT is your national emergency.
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@GB Certainly a missed paycheck is on the same level as a Hurricane Katrina level disaster or a London Fire or a Bubonic Plague or an Indonesian Tsunami. Nice job keeping a missed paycheck in perspective.
NY should use eminent domain to take trump tower. He has created so much chaos in the area, that people have had to move to function normally.
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@M There is a petition to rename the portion of the street in front of it "Barack Obama Street"
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I have lived long enough to have seen seen other elected officials act in a way that has tested the resiliency of the Republic. The Republic has always survived. The deeper we get into Mr. Trump's tenure, the more I wonder if the Republic will survive him. But for the fact he does not play the fiddle during these photo ops/perpetual campaign rallies, he has morphed into a modern-day Nero. His inane "MAGA" baseball cap serves as his substitute for a musical instrument, perhaps.
He is now what he has always been, which is an unapologetic narcissist and a pathological liar. All that has changed is the stage on which he plies his craft and, I fear, the scope of the damage done by the way in which he does it.
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@Adam Kenny
If the country recovers from trump it's going to be a generational undertaking. I do look forward (hopefully not too far in the future) to trump's personal "undertaking".
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@rmreddicks Well said.
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This is not even good drama, nor does it qualify as a comedy. It seems more like the story of "Chicken Little." There is a good part of the population in our country that has lined up behind the Fox, and they will soon be entering the den.
The amount of harm being done in the name of good is simply unjustifiable, no matter how much you distort the facts. This seems to be the case whether we are talking about border security or tariffs. The people that stand to gain are few and far between, but the losers will be many.
We live in an era that is all about corruption and greed combined with magical thinking. Each generation must learn for itself and the lessons can sometimes be hard. For some, though, you wonder if they have the ability to learn, and are just not passing down their ignorance and prejudice from one generation to the next.
Everyone, except for some, can see through what is going on and when the exit ramp is itself just a facade, but is being sold as if it is real, the actions are beyond reprehensible. It should not come as a shock to understand that there is no plan. It's all being made up as they go along. The cart is before the horse, and it is going badly. Right now, it almost seems pointless to point the finger of blame. What we need is someone to do the right thing, and the chances of that happening are slim.
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He should know: he creates it!
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Someone needs to ask the president exactly how long this crisis has been going on. Did it suddenly arise in the last month or two? If not, then why didn't Congress deal with it last year?
I suspect that this "crisis" has more to do with Mueller's soon to be concluded investigation than with border crossings.
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@gardencat
The matter has reached crisis proportions precisely because Congress has refused to launch bipartisan initiatives for immigration reform. President Trump was not in the White House when this all began decades ago and to even suggest that he is somehow responsible for the crisis - and is is a crisis - is once again obsessively and simply anti-Trump.
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@JBC
The opioid epidemic is a crisis. Our mismanaged healthcare system is a crisis. Declining numbers of people crossing the border is not a crisis.
The only crisis at the border is the fact that we don't have enough workers coming over to fill all the open jobs.
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Wake Up! For the last two years, while Republicans had control of BOTH house and senate, why wasn’t the wall funded then? Why suddenly, on the eve of a power shift, did this need for a wall become urgent?
Because it’s good for ratings.
Because a good drama needs arch-enemies and ongoing feuds like something out of an 80s serial drama.
Don’t fall for his cheap theatrics.
Trump IS our national crisis.
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For 2 years, both houses of Congress were in Republican hands and they failed to pass legislation giving Trump his wall. Now he blames a Democratic house for his failure. I can't remember a more divisive president.
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@Steven B
Nor a more gullible public.
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@RickyDick Sad to say, but you are correct
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Clearly, we the people have been far too patient as we wait for our president to finally grow into the job. He can't, and he won't.
Me, I can't wait for Mueller's report. I say we impeach Trump today for breaking his Oath of Office (he's neither serving nor protecting the citizens of the United States) and for Dereliction of Duty (this job does involve some work sometimes, but daydreaming about an ego wall is not work).
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Looking at the picture accompanying the article, I thought of those famous optical illusions of reversible figures (e.g. it's a duck and/or a rabbit), where what you know influences what you see. Some looking at that picture would only want to see a 'crisis' involving guns, drugs, and crime. Others see it as a staged photo op so obvious it looks like a parody. In the duck/rabbit illusion, once someone points out each image you can see them both. But I'm afraid most Americans are intent on seeing only a duck.
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Money quote: “Our Only Crisis Is Trump’s Failing Presidency.”
This is so obvious that even Republicans should see it.
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Instead of 1000 miles of fence, build observation towers every half mile--- you'd need 2000. At $20,000 each, that's 40 million. Staffed by 2 $80,000 employees, that's $320 million, or $360 million total.
Trump's got almost 5x that amount that is unspent. Use towers and sensors. Don't do eminent domain with whole land purchases...Why? Rent a spot where needed. Solved.
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@A. Reader..Cell phone providers have been doing it for years.
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Are the towers to be "manned"?
If so, that's a major ongoing cost.
If not, cameras would need to be maintained and would be subject to sabotage, If they're to work at night, they're a lot more expensive. Also (barring an army of humans to monitor the video), various sensor devices would need to be deployed and maintained (a human would still need to evaluate each "event", which might be wildlife or something else).
I was lead software engineer for a company that developed high-tech security systems used to protect military bases, and other large-area, sensitive areas.
I agree that observation beats a wall (and causes far fewer problems, including environmental). However, there is a substantial ongoing cost, and the initial cost is higher than just the cost of the towers. Still, it beats a wall.
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Walls also need to be manned. Just ask the Chinese, Romans, or Israelis.
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There has been a border crisis or more accurately illegal immigration crisis for many years. Congress has failed reform the immigration mess.
Now a wall is not going to solve this crisis. We have open Canadian border and Florida coast for anyone to enter. And then there are tunnels under wall, defeating the wall.
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@Jaque Not to mention most people who have overstayed their visas (the real "crisis") got here by plane. Maybe we need a big roof.
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@Jaque Admit it. You only think there is an immigration crisis because non-whites are coming in, even if they are doing it legally.
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Would like to know exactly where, and how, the cash, drugs and weapon(s) were found by BP agents. Would the "Wall" have resulted in these articles being stopped or were they being brought in through the normal parts of entry concealed in cars or trucks? How about Homeland Security letting us know the details behind the story!
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@Fred Prager Obviously, Trump, et al., don't want the actual details known.
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@Fred Prager
The money displayed was mentioned as having been seized from a man at a regular point of entry, not from someone crossing illegally.
@Fred Prager
The article states, fairly early on: "The display of drugs, weapons and cash was mainly the product of law enforcement actions stopping criminals at international bridges, where most drugs are smuggled, and conventional ports of entry."
When will the State of Texas wake up. How are they doing I wonder housing all those who are not able to be accommodated by their detention centers which are now not manned owed to his shutdown of the Federal Government?
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"The Fox host Sean Hannity stood nearby..."
Why does this not surprise me?
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