President Donald Trump said that Republicans should “stop wasting their time” on immigration the morning after a bill in Congress was delayed as it seemed unlikely to pass.
In a series of tweets, the president on Friday argued that Democrats were “obstructing” in Congress and told his followers that electing more Republicans would help pass an immigration bill.
“Even if we get 100% Republican votes in the Senate, we need 10 Democrat votes to get a much needed Immigration Bill – & the Dems are Obstructionists who won’t give votes for political reasons & because they don’t care about Crime coming from Border! So we need to elect more R’s!” Trump wrote, adding: “Elect more Republicans in November and we will pass the finest, fairest and most comprehensive Immigration Bills anywhere in the world. Right now we have the dumbest and the worst. Dems are doing nothing but Obstructing. Remember their motto, RESIST! Ours is PRODUCE!”
Then the president told fellow Republicans not to continue working on immigration laws.
“Republicans should stop wasting their time on Immigration until after we elect more Senators and Congressmen/women in November. Dems are just playing games, have no intention of doing anything to solves this decades old problem. We can pass great legislation after the Red Wave!” he added.
Republicans should stop wasting their time on Immigration until after we elect more Senators and Congressmen/women in November. Dems are just playing games, have no intention of doing anything to solves this decades old problem. We can pass great legislation after the Red Wave!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2018
On Thursday an immigration deal was delayed by House Republicans in an effort to drum up more support for it, according to NBC News.
The president’s assertion that an immigration deal is a waste of time is a swift pivot from earlier in the week when he said “now” was the “best opportunity ever” for Congress to work on immigration reform.
“#CHANGETHELAWS Now is the best opportunity ever for Congress to change the ridiculous and obsolete laws on immigration. Get it done, always keeping in mind that we must have strong border security,” the president tweeted on Tuesday.
#CHANGETHELAWS Now is the best opportunity ever for Congress to change the ridiculous and obsolete laws on immigration. Get it done, always keeping in mind that we must have strong border security.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 19, 2018
The president and his administration have come under fire in recent weeks for enforcing an immigration policy the separated undocumented children from their families at centers near the country’s southern border.
The policy has drawn extreme backlash, and earlier this week Trump signed an executive order that ended the separation policy, which his administration had been vigorously enforcing.
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