WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump’s visit to New York (all times local):
2:50 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he’s working on a plan to deduct aid from countries that don’t cooperate with U.S. immigration authorities and refuse to accept deportees.
Trump says during an immigration roundtable on Long Island that every time someone tries to come into the U.S. illegally from one of the countries that receives aid, “We’re going to deduct a rather large” amount of money.
He adds that, “We’re looking at our whole aid structure.”
Trump has previously accused countries like Mexico of failing to do enough to help the U.S. prevent illegal border crossings.
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2:23 p.m.
President Donald Trump is defending his description of MS-13 gang members as “animals.”
Trump says he was met with “rebuke” from Democrats when he described the gang members as animals last week.
He says Democrats said the gang members are people. He specifically mentioned House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi.
Trump disagreed, saying Wednesday, “they’re not people. These are animals and we have to be very, very tough.”
Pelosi had commented more broadly on Trump’s rhetoric and policies on immigrants.
Trump commented at an MS-13 roundtable in Bethpage, on New York’s Long Island, that was attended by federal and local officials.
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2:21 p.m.
President Donald Trump is decrying the “menace” of the gang MS-13 as he kicks off a roundtable on illegal immigration and gang violence in New York’s Nassau County.
Trump says the gang has turned formerly peaceful neighborhoods into “blood-stained killing fields.”
He’s describing gruesome crimes blamed on its members and pledging to deal with the issue.
Trump is joined by local and federal officials as well as members of Congress and the parents of children who were killed by members of the gang.
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11:35 a.m.
A White House spokesman says President Donald Trump’s immigration discussion in New York will focus on “loopholes” that he says help the violent MS-13 gang “infiltrate our communities.”
Spokesman Hogan Gidley on Wednesday pointed to policies such as catch-and-release, which allows immigrants in the U.S. illegally to be released from custody while they await immigration hearings. He cited lax asylum standards, the proliferation of unaccompanied children coming into the U.S. illegally and constraints on keeping immigrants in custody.
Gidley claims the policies “allow hundreds of thousands of illegal and unauthorized aliens” to enter and be released in the U.S.
Trump is being joined Wednesday on Long Island by officials including Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
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7:55 a.m.
President Donald Trump will speak on immigration and gang violence in a speech on Long Island in New York.
The president is expected to discuss efforts to eradicate MS-13, the violent Salvadoran-based street gang.
Last week, Trump used the word “animals” to describe some people who enter the country illegally, in response to a comment about MS-13. The president says he will continue to use the term in referring to the gang.
The White House also released a fact sheet Monday morning, titled, “WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIOLENT ANIMALS OF MS-13.”
Trump traveled to Suffolk County Community College last July to discuss the gang before law enforcement officials.
Trump will also attend a fundraiser in New York City.
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