TRUMP USES SLUR TO DECRY IMMIGRANTS
He used the word in a meeting at the White House, reports say
WASHINGTON
PRESIDENT Donald Trump reportedly lashed out in a Thursday meeting with lawmakers about immigration reform, demanding to know why the United States should accept citizens from what he called “s***hole” countries.
The comments, first reported by The Washington Post, sparked anger among Democrats and Republicans and revived questions about Trump’s tendency to make racially charged remarks.
Trump sat down with senators and congressmen at the
White House to discuss a proposed bipartisan deal that would limit immigrants from bringing family members into the country, and restrict the green card visa lottery in exchange for shielding hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation.
“Why are we having all these people from s***hole countries come here?” Trump said, according to people briefed on the meeting who spoke with The Washington Post.
The New York Times later reported the same comment, citing unnamed people with direct knowledge of the meeting.
Trump was referring to African countries and Haiti, both newspapers said, with the Post including El Salvador on its list.
Trump then said the US should welcome immigrants from places like Norway, whose prime minister met Trump on Wednesday.
“Why do we need more Haitians?” he said, according to the Post account. “Take them out.”
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senator Dick Durbin came to the White House to outline their bipartisan compromise, but found themselves in the room with several Republican immigration hardliners.
Graham and Durbin are leading efforts to codify protections for so-called “dreamers”, immigrants who went to the US illegally as children.
In exchange, the deal would end extended family “chain migration”. It also reportedly would cut the visa lottery program by half and prioritise certain countries in the system, instead of scrapping it as several Republicans have suggested as part of an agreement.
Last year, Trump scrapped the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme that protected the immigrants, and set a deadline of March 5 for congress to legislate a fix. AFP