Trump threatens shutdown over immigration

Congress faces another spending bill deadline

WASHINGTON – President Trump said Tuesday he would shut down the government if Congress doesn’t fix an immigration system that doesn’t allow the government to deport criminal gang members.

“If we don’t change it, let’s have a shutdown. It’s worth it for our country. I’d love to see a shutdown if we don’t get this taken care of,” Trump said Tuesday as he met with law enforcement officials to discuss the threat of the MS-13 gang.

If Democrats don’t want to close loopholes that allow gang members to illegally enter and remain in the country, he said, “Then shut it down.”

Trump’s comments came just four days before Congress faces another deadline to pass a spending bill or shut down the government. The last spending impasse was resolved only after Democrats extracted a promise that Trump and Republicans would negotiate a solution to immigrants who arrived in the United States as children.

Trump’s shutdown threat received immediate resistance even from fellow Republicans. Rep. Barbara Comstock, RVa., said both parties want to crack down on criminal gangs.

“We don’t need a government shutdown on this,” she told Trump. “I think both sides learned that a shutdown is bad.”

“We are not getting support of the Democrats,” Trump shot back. “You can say what you want.”

That exchange punctuated an event intended to highlight the relationship between criminal gangs and immigration laws.

“We’ve never really seen anything quite like this, the level of ferocity, the level of violence,” Trump said. “MS-13 recruits through our broken immigration system, violating our borders. Whenever they want to come through, they come through.”

By framing immigration as a national security issue, Trump is hoping to pressure Congress to approve restrictions on immigration in exchange for a path to citizenship for childhood arrivals.

Asked by a reporter if he stood by the shutdown threat, Trump didn’t back down.

“I would shut it down over this issue. I can’t speak for everybody at the table, but I will tell you, I would shut it down over this issue,” he said. “If we don’t straighten out our border, we don’t have a country. Without borders we don’t have a country. So would I would shut it down over this issue? Yes.”

The previous shutdown lasted three days before Congress passed a threeweek spending extension to give both sides time to negotiate a longer-term deal on immigration and spending.

Trump claimed victory in that battle, portraying Senate Democrats as the instigators of the shutdown.

On Capitol Hill, Sen. Chuck Schumer said Trump’s threat Tuesday “speaks for itself.”

“We had one Trump shutdown,” he said. “Nobody wants another, maybe except him.”

AFP/GETTY IMAGES President Trump says if the government spending bill due by Friday doesn’t address his immigration goals, “Then shut it down.”