Trump feeling the heat as supporters grow impatient
David Nakamura analysis
President Donald Trump’s sharp shift in tone on immigration this week from would-be dealmaker back to the hardline stance he campaigned on comes amid signs that some of his conservative base is growing impatient for him to fulfil promises on the border wall and other measures to crack down on illegal immigration.
This week Trump has issued declarations on Twitter that shut the door on a legislative deal to protect young undocumented immigrants from deportation, blamed Democrats for the failure, demanded the Mexican Government take stronger action to close the border, and conflated a refugee crisis from Central America with the Obama-era deferred-action programme that Trump ended.
In doing so, Trump has again fanned fears that US immigration policies have weakened the country and led to public safety risks.
“Must build Wall and secure our borders with proper Border legislation,” Trump wrote yesterday in one of several tweets devoted to immigration. “Democrats want No Borders, hence drugs and crime!”
Trump had, in recent weeks, cast himself as remaining open to an immigration deal on Capitol Hill. But when immigration talks collapsed after Congress approved a US$1.3 trillion spending bill two weeks ago that did not include an immigration deal or funding for many of the tougher border security measures the Administration proposed, Trump faced growing criticism from some conservatives who had supported him over his inability to secure funding for the wall, which he had initially promised Mexico would pay for.
Trump’s focus on border and immigration issues also follows a briefing he received late last week from Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Among the issues discussed were the wall, the “caravan” and the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) programme.
In his string of immigration tweets on Monday and yesterday, Trump seized on news reports that a “caravan” of more than 1000 migrants, mostly from Honduras, is travelling north to seek asylum in the US. The “caravan” is an annual event organised by immigrant advocacy groups aimed at drawing public attention to the ongoing refugee crisis from Central America, a region wracked by rampant gang violence and drug trafficking.