(from New York) Nine minutes were enough for the United States President Donald Trump to sound the alarm on the immigration issue and extend accusations to the Democrats which in his view represent the primary cause of public administration shutdown, owing –he declared- to the failed vote on funding for the creation of a wall on the border with Mexico.
“A growing humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border,” were the opening lines of the first live address from the Oval Office, used by his predecessors to reunite the nation around crucial issues. “Every day US Customs and Border Patrol agents encounter thousands of illegal immigrants trying to enter our country from our southern border”, the President said, pointing out that immigrant presence strains public resources and drives down jobs and wages and that is a pipeline for vast quantities of illegal drugs. “Every week, 300 citizens are killed by heroin alone, 90% of which floods across from our southern border. More Americans will die from drugs this year than were killed in the entire Vietnam War”, the President said, while all political commentators are fact-checking the data only to discover, for example, as regards the number of drug-related deaths, that in 2017 the death-toll was of approximately 70 thousand, while the Vietnam War claimed the lives of over 58,200 people. Moreover, land ports of entry are the primary means for getting drugs into the country, placed in hidden compartments from China or through Canada.
In his address the US president repeated the word “crisis” several times, to emphasize the gravity of the situation, overlooking the fact that border patrol agents have dumped thousands of migrants as a sign of protest against the shutdown, causing a veritable emergency in the city of El Paso.
Trump also declared that ICE officers made 266,000 arrests of aliens with criminal records, including those charged or convicted of 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes and 4,000 violent killings. But the facts show that most of these were traffic violations and driving under the influence charges or convictions and immigration-related crimes. The President then illustrated his Homeland Security proposal that includes cutting-edge technology, human resources – more agents, immigration judges – medical support, and finally, “$5.7 billion for a physical barrier. This barrier is absolutely critical to border security. It is just common sense.”
Having provided an overview of costs and expense items, Trump went on to attack the Democrats: “they have refused to provide our brave border agents with the tools that they desperately need to protect our families and our nation.” The fact is that the Democrats have pledged to support security measures provided that the border wall issue is addressed not in terms of budget but as a political issue.
Yet the US president insists in blaming the Democrats for the shutdown, now in its 18th day, the longest crisis involving US administration, but Trump is determined in not backtracking on the request of the wall and explained the reasons for its usefulness, drawing a comparison with the homes of wealthy people who “don’t build walls because they hate the people on the outside, but because they love the people on the inside.” Finally, Trump sent a message to Congress and to US citizens requesting the former “to pass a bill that ends this crisis.” The latter are urged to call Congress and tell them to finally, after all of these decades secure our border.” “This is a choice between right and wrong. Justice and injustice. This is about whether we fulfil our sacred duty to the American citizens we serve”, Trump concluded.