Trump calls for border legislation using 'nuclear option'

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump demanded Monday that Congress pass new border legislation using the "Nuclear Option if necessary" to muscle it through the Senate — a drastic change in rules the Republican leader has previously dismissed.

Trump tweeted that the U.S. must build a border wall, but argued that "Democrats want No Borders, hence drugs and crime!" He also said that a deal to help "Dreamer" immigrants is "dead because the Democrats didn't care or act."

Trump has previously called for the "nuclear option" — changing Senate rules to end the filibuster. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has dismissed that option in the past, saying Republicans will welcome the filibuster if they return to being the Senate minority.

The White House did not immediately answer questions about Trump's tweets. The $1.3 trillion funding package Congress passed last month included $1.6 billion in border wall spending. But much of that money can only be used to repair existing segments, not build new sections. Congress also put restrictions on the types of barriers that can be built.


He also claimed that people are flowing over the border "trying to take advantage of DACA. They want in on the act!"







"The Democrats have really let them down," he added during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, adding: "It's a shame."

Trump's comments also ignore the fact that the DACA solution he proposed mustered only 39 votes in the Senate, not enough to pass even if the Senate did approve the nuclear option. Meanwhile, the bipartisan option the White House vigorously lobbied against did gain a majority of votes, but fell six votes shy of the 60 needed to advance under Senate rules.


The president also complained on Twitter that border patrol agents can't do their jobs properly because of "ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws" that allow people caught for being in the country illegally to be released while they await a hearing before a federal immigration judge.

Trump tweeted that the situation is "Getting more dangerous" and "Caravans" are coming.

The president's tweets came after Fox News' "Fox & Friends" reported early Sunday on what it said is a group of 1,200 immigrants, mostly from Honduras, headed to the U.S.




The Fox headline was "Caravan of illegal immigrants headed to U.S." The president is known to watch the cable TV program in the morning.

Brandon Judd, leader of the union representing border patrol agents, predicted on "Fox & Friends" that those in the caravan would create havoc and chaos in the U.S. as they wait for what he described as immigration reform. Judd also said Congress needs to pass tougher laws, an idea Trump appeared to echo, and create more bed space for immigration authorities to house people.



Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Jill Colvin in Washington and Mark Stevenson in Mexico City contributed to this report.


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