President Trump gave Mexican authorities 12 months to stem the flow of illegal immigration into the United States or face a series of crippling new economic tariffs Thursday; issuing officials, businesses, and residents a “one-year warning.”
“The only thing frankly better, but less drastic than closing the border, is to tariff the cars coming in,” Trump said. “We’re going to give them a one-year warning and if the drugs don’t stop or largely stop, we’ll put tariffs on Mexico and products, in particular cars.”
“Talking to reporters in the White House, Trump said he would instead give Mexico a ‘one-year warning’ to stop the flow of drugs into the United States and that he would first impose auto tariffs before closing the border,” writes Politico.
The move comes weeks after President Trump declared a “national emergency” along the US-Mexico border; effectively bypassing Congress to secure funding for his long-promised border wall.
Read the full report at Politico.
ARMAGEDDON AGAIN? Pelosi Warns Government Could be ‘CLOSED FOREVER’ Over Budget Fight
Likely Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi escalated her war-of-words with the Trump administration Thursday; saying the government could be “closed forever” because of her opposition to the President’s border wall.
Pelosi was speaking with reporters during her weekly press conference at the Capitol when she was asked if she planned to cave to the President’s security demands.
Pelosi predicts the government will stay "closed forever" because she is never going to fund the border wall.
Earlier, Pelosi said she is not going to approve one dime for the Wall. pic.twitter.com/W1hDuOtikw
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) December 13, 2018
“Let’s hope there won’t be a shutdown of the government. That’s a very bad thing to do, maybe the President doesn’t grasp that. That is very harmful to our country at significant cost,” said Pelosi.
“They still voted against opening up the government [the last time.] Does he want to have government closed forever? What’s this about? I know he doesn’t believe in government,” she added.
BORDER CHAOS: California BANS TROOPS from Helping Border Patrol Agents
The government of California officially rebuked the Trump administration’s decision to deploy the National Guard to the southern border Monday; saying federal plans had their troops working “too closely” with immigration enforcement.
According to the Associated Press, state officials notified federal authorities that deployed soldiers will be prohibited from tackling duties seen as cracking down on illegal immigration: including fixing border patrol vehicles, operating surveillance cameras, and monitoring radio transmissions.
Last week, Governor Jerry Brown confirmed that he was willing to deploy upwards of 400 troops to the United States’ border with Mexico, but added the service members would be prohibited from aiding federal agents in stemming the flow of people across the border.
“This will not be a mission to build a new wall,” Brown wrote. “It will not be a mission to round up women and children or detain people escaping violence and seeking a better life. And the California National Guard will not be enforcing federal immigration laws.”