President Donald Trump blamed Democratic immigration policies for the recent deaths of two young migrant children who perished while in custody of U.S. Border Patrol, in a series of Saturday tweets.
Any deaths of children or others at the Border are strictly the fault of the Democrats and their pathetic immigration policies that allow people to make the long trek thinking they can enter our country illegally. They can’t. If we had a Wall, they wouldn’t even try! The two…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2018
…children in question were very sick before they were given over to Border Patrol. The father of the young girl said it was not their fault, he hadn’t given her water in days. Border Patrol needs the Wall and it will all end. They are working so hard & getting so little credit!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2018
The president is currently locked in a high stakes negotiations battle with Democratic lawmakers over how to end a partial government shutdown. Trump is demanding $5 billion in funding for a proposed wall along the southern border with Democrats refusing to give up more than $1.6 billion for border security.
Both Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have said they will not appropriate a single taxpayer dollar for an actual border wall.
President Donald Trump speaks next to VP Mike Pence while meeting with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi at the White House. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Trump highlighted the growing phenomenon of children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border with their parents illegally and showing symptoms of illnesses. The Department of Homeland Security considers the issue so widespread and dangerous that it has asked the Center for Disease Control to investigate the matter, officials told reporters in recent days.
“We’re doing dozens of hospital trips every single day with children that have fevers or manifest other medical conditions,” CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan told CBS News recently.
Men from Mexico climb the US-Mexico border wall in Playas de Tijuana, northwestern Mexico, November 18, 2018. – The Central American migrant caravan trekking toward the United States converged on the US-Mexican border Thursday after more than a month on the road, undeterred by President Donald Trump’s deployment of thousands of American troops near the border. (Photo by Guillermo Arias / AFP)
The two recent deaths of migrant children both involved cases of a child accompanied by a parent who illegally crossed the U.S. border. In the first case, the president highlighted the plight of a young girl whose father told Border Patrol that she had been given water and was feeling fine when they were apprehended. The girl in fact had not been given water for several days and she perished after displaying symptoms. The father has subsequently said he does not blame Border Patrol for her death. (RELATED: Fact Check: Was A 7-Year-Old Girl In Border Patrol Custody For A Week Before Dying Of Dehydration?)
The second case of a migrant children involved an 8-year-old boy who had been taken to the hospital after showing signs of illness. The boy was then taken back into custody and his father at one point even told Border Patrol that he did not have to be taken back to the hospital. He later developed further symptoms and succumbed to illness. A preliminary investigation shows he had contracted influenza, though his cause of death remains unclear.