NATION/WORLD
Saturday, April 13, 2019
Trump ‘strongly looking’ at
releasing migrants in Dem cities
By JILL COLVIN and
COLLEEN LONG
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Pres-
ident Donald Trump said
Friday he is strongly con-
sidering releasing “Illegal
Immigrants” into Demo-
cratic strongholds to punish
congressional foes for inac-
tion on the border— just
hours after White House and
Homeland Security officials
insisted the idea had been
rejected as fast as it had been
proposed.
“Due to the fact that
Democrats are unwilling
to change our very danger-
ous immigration laws, we
are indeed, as reported, giv-
ing strong considerations to
placing Illegal Immigrants
in Sanctuary Cities only,”
Trump tweeted. He added
that, “The Radical Left
always seems to have an
Open Borders, Open Arms
policy — so this should
make them very happy!”
He later told reporters
that he was “strongly look-
ing at” the idea of releasing
migrant families into those
communities, though there
were no immediate plans in
place to implement Trump’s
threat.
“They’re always saying
they have open arms. Let’s
see if they have open arms,”
he said.
The reversal, which
appeared to catch officials at
the Department of Homeland
Security off guard, came as
critics were blasting news
that the White House had at
least twice considered a plan
to release detained immi-
grants into so-called sanc-
tuary cities, using migrants
as pawns to go after political
opponents.
Before Trump’s com-
ments, both the Department
of Homeland Security and
a White House official had
insisted in nearly identical
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File
In this April 5, 2019, file photo, President Donald Trump par-
ticipates in a roundtable on immigration and border security
at the U.S. Border Patrol Calexico Station in Calexico, Calif.
“THE RADICAL LEFT ALWAYS SEEMS
TO HAVE AN OPEN BORDERS, OPEN
ARMS POLICY — SO THIS SHOULD
MAKE THEM VERY HAPPY!”
President Donald Trump
statements that that plan had
been floated but then flatly
rejected.
But not, apparently, by
the president, who emphati-
cally revived the idea.
“Sanctuary cities” are
places where local author-
ities do not cooperate with
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement officials, deny-
ing information or resources
that would help ICE round up
for deportation people living
in the country illegally.
They include New York
City and San Francisco,
home city of House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi, who on Friday
called the idea “unworthy of
the presidency of the United
States and disrespectful of
the challenges that we face
as a country, as a people,
to address who we are — a
nation of immigrants.”
The idea of pressing
immigration authorities to
embrace the plan was dis-
cussed in November and
then again in February as
the Trump administra-
tion struggled with a surge
of migrants at the border,
according to three people
who spoke on condition of
anonymity to outline private
conversations.
Homeland
Security and ICE lawyers
quickly rejected the pro-
posal, according to the peo-
ple, and it was dropped on
the grounds that it was com-
plicated, too expensive and a
misuse of funds, two of the
people said.
The plan, which was first
reported by the Washington
Post, is one of many ideas
considered by an increas-
ingly frustrated White
House in recent months as
Trump has railed against
the growing number of Cen-
tral American migrant fam-
ilies crossing the southern
border and looked for new
ways to increase leverage
J-.
on congressional Democrats
to change laws that Trump
insists are making the prob-
lem worse.
Officials say they are
running out of options, and
have proposed and recy-
cled numerous ideas that
have never come to fruition.
Trump in recent weeks has
discussed the idea of renew-
ing his administration’s con-
troversial family separation
policy.
There were at least two
versions of the sanctuary
city plan that were consid-
ered, according to one of
the people familiar with
the effort. One would have
moved people who had
already been detained and
were being held elsewhere
to places with Democratic
opponents of the president,
while the other would have
transported migrants appre-
hended at the border directly
to San Francisco, New York
City, Chicago and other
spots.
ICE arrests people in the
U.S. illegally and also man-
ages migrants who present
themselves at border cross-
ings and ask for asylum.
The surge of migrant fami-
lies arriving at the southern
border has been taxing the
system, forcing ICE to set
free more than 125,000 peo-
ple as they await court hear-
ings — a practice Trump
has derided as “catch and
release.” With immigrant
processing and holding
centers overwhelmed, the
administration has also been
busing people hundreds of
miles inland and releasing
them at Greyhound stations
and churches in cities such
as Albuquerque, San Anto-
nio and Phoenix because
towns close to the border
already have more than they
can handle.
Federal court rules pro-
hibit the detention of chil-
dren longer than 20 days.
East Oregonian
A9
BRIEFLY
‘I know nothing’ — Trump
changes his tune on WikiLeaks
WASHINGTON (AP) — It was a far cry from “I love
WikiLeaks!”
President Donald Trump declared that “I know noth-
ing about WikiLeaks” after its disheveled founder Julian
Assange was hauled out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in
London to face charges, a stark contrast to how candidate
Trump showered praise on Assange’s hacking organiza-
tion night after night during the final weeks of the 2016
presidential campaign.
Asked about Thursday’s arrest, Trump said at the
White House, “It’s not my thing. I know there is some-
thing having to do with Julian Assange. I’ve been seeing
what’s happened with Assange and that will be a determi-
nation, I would imagine, mostly by the attorney general,
who’s doing an excellent job. So, he’ll be making a deter-
mination. I know nothing really about him.”
“It’s not my deal in life.”
But WikiLeaks was Trump’s deal in 2016 as he wel-
comed the political boost his campaign got and cheered on
the release of Clinton campaign emails.
Israeli spacecraft crashes
in attempt to land on moon
YEHUD, Israel (AP) — An Israeli spacecraft crashed
into the moon just moments before touchdown, failing in
an ambitious attempt to make history Thursday as the first
privately funded lunar landing.
The spacecraft lost communication with ground con-
trol during its final descent. Moments later, the mission
was declared a failure.
“We definitely crashed on the surface of the moon,”
said Opher Doron of Israel Aerospace Industries.
He said the spacecraft’s engine turned off shortly
before landing, and scientists were still trying to figure out
the cause. The spacecraft, called Beresheet, was in pieces
scattered at the landing site, he said.
Doron nonetheless called the mission an “amazing suc-
cess,” for reaching the moon and coming so close to land-
ing successfully.
House Democrats mark
first 100 days with wins, stumbles
WASHINGTON (AP) — Newly elected Rep. Sharice
Davids is most proud of setting up a congressional office
in part of her Kansas district she said hadn’t seen one for
years. For Georgia Rep. Lucy McBath, her biggest victory
was passing the gun background checks legislation she
advocated for after her son’s shooting death. And for New
York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, her top achievement
was the introduction of the landmark Green New Deal.
As the Democratic freshmen lawmakers round the first
100 days of their new majority in the House, they’re taking
stock of their accomplishments, noting the stumbles and
marking their place as a frontline of resistance to President
Donald Trump.
“When I came here, I said the days of business as usual
in the Congress are done, and I think that’s what we’ve
seen,” said Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill.
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