President Trump on Thursday vented frustration with Democrats blocking funds for a border wall, as the spending dispute kept the government partially shuttered for a sixth day.
“’Border Patrol Agents want the Wall.’ Democrat’s say they don’t want the Wall (even though they know it is really needed), and they don’t want ICE,” the president tweeted.
He has grown increasingly irate with Democrats who he says oppose a wall or other barrier on the southern border only because it was one of his top campaign promises.
He said their anti-border security stance would backfire.
“They don’t have much to campaign on, do they? An Open Southern Border and the large scale crime that comes with such stupidity!” he tweeted.
Mr. Trump and Democratic lawmakers are locked in a standoff over the president’s demand for roughly $5 billion for border security including a wall or barrier on the southern border, with 25 percent of the federal government shut down in the meantime.
Democratic leaders insist that they support border security but oppose Mr. Trump’s wall, saying it is a costly and ineffective solution to illegal immigration. They have backed other ideas such as drones, sensors and other high-tech solutions to porous border.
In a series of tweets, Mr. Trump also blamed Democrats for scuttling a deal earlier in the year that would have provided substantial funding for a border wall in exchange for granting legal status to illegal immigrants with temporary protection from deportation under the Obama-era DACA policy, the so-called Dreamers who illegally entered the U.S. as children.
“The reason the DACA for Wall deal didn’t get done was that a ridiculous court decision from the 9th Circuit allowed DACA to remain, thereby setting up a Supreme Court case. After ruling, Dems dropped deal - and that’s where we are today, Democrat obstruction of the needed Wall,” said at the president.
He compared the fight over border security funding to Senate Democrats slow-walking approval of his nominations.
“The Democrats OBSTRUCTION of the desperately needed Wall, where they almost all recently agreed it should be built, is exceeded only by their OBSTRUCTION of 350 great people wanting & expecting to come into Government after being delayed for more than two years, a U.S. record!” he tweeted.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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