US President Donald Trump has declared “NO MORE” to a deal to help “Dreamer” immigrants and threatened to pull out of a free- trade agreement with Mexico unless it does more to stop people from crossing into the US.
He said they are coming to take advantage of protections granted to certain immigrants.
“NO MORE DACA DEAL!” Trump tweeted on Sunday, referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, one hour after he began the day by wishing his followers a “HAPPY EASTER!”
Photo: Reuters
He said Mexico must “stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA. NEED WALL!”
The US, Canada and Mexico are participating in tense negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) at Trump’s insistence.
“Mexico has got to help us at the border,” Trump, holding his wife’s hand, told reporters before the couple attended Easter services at an Episcopal church near his Palm Beach home. “If they’re not going to help us at the border, it’s a very sad thing between our two countries.”
“A lot of people are coming in because they want to take advantage of DACA,” he added.
Former US president Barack Obama created DACA to provide temporary protection and work permits to hundreds of thousands of immigrants who are living in the US illegally after being taken there as children.
Trump ended the program last year, but gave the US Congress six months to pass legislation enshrining it. A deal has so far proved elusive and Trump has blamed Democrats.
It was not immediately clear what Trump was referring to when he said people are coming to take advantage of the program.
The US Department of Homeland Security is not issuing new permits, though existing ones can be renewed.
The Obama administration allowed sign-ups during a set period of time, and the program is closed to new entrants.
Proposed DACA deals crafted by lawmakers and rejected by Trump were also not open to new participants.
Trump, when addressing reporters briefly before entering the church, again blamed Democrats for failing to protect the “Dreamers.”
“They had a great chance. The Democrats blew it. They had a great, great chance, but we’ll have to take a look because Mexico has got to help us at the border. They flow right through Mexico. They send them into the United States. It can’t happen that way anymore,” he said.
Trump tweeted that the situation is “Getting more dangerous” and “Caravans” are coming.
The US president’s tweets came after Fox News’ Fox & Friends reported early on Sunday on what it said is a group of 1,200 immigrants, mostly from Honduras, headed to the US.
The Fox headline was “Caravan of illegal immigrants headed to US.”
The US president is known to watch the cable TV program in the morning.
Ohio Governor John Kasich, a Republican, chided Trump over the tone of the tweets.
“A true leader preserves & offers hope, doesn’t take hope from innocent children who call America home. Remember, today is Easter Sunday,” Kasich tweeted.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique