House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says border wall prototypes displayed for President Trump this week lack the hallmarks of a “civilized society.”
The old saying “good walls make good neighbors” was seemingly rejected by the California Democrat on Thursday during her weekly press conference. A question regarding a possible deal on “Dreamers” prompted Mrs. Pelosi to bristle at border wall prototypes recently shared with Mr. Trump in San Diego.
“The border — did you see it — how high it is?” she asked. “I mean, really? In a civilized society, we do something like that. As obnoxious as it is, you know that’s a community there with a border running through it. Okay, we have a difference of opinion on that, but a wall that big separating people? I mean, really? […] This is like a big wall.”
The lawmaker said that Mr. Trump would not receive a “border wall for nothing” from Democrats.
“They want to have enhanced internal enforcement that really goes against the values of our country,” Mrs. Pelosi said.
Mr. Trump, who wants $25 billion in new border funding, told reporters on Tuesday that a wall is “truly our first line of defense.”
SEE ALSO: White House says no temporary deal linking DACA with border wall funding
“[The wall] will save thousands and thousands of lives, save taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars by reducing crime, drug flow, welfare fraud, and burdens on schools and hospitals,” Mr. Trump said. “The wall will save hundreds of billions of dollars — many, many times what it’s going to cost.”
“We’ve cut down, and way down, on crossings — border crossings — because of the job that the Border Patrol does. And the ones that get through, we’ve gotten out. MS-13, we’re taking them out by the thousands. But we don’t want them here in the first place. We don’t want them to come in.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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