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UPDATED 1:07 PM PT
President Trump urges lawmakers to take action, in regards to our nation’s immigration system. In a tweet Monday, the president said “Democrats working with Republicans in Congress” could potentially “fix the asylum and other loopholes quickly.”
Democrats, working with Republicans in Congress, can fix the Asylum and other loopholes quickly. We have a major National Emergency at our Border. GET IT DONE NOW!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 1, 2019
This comes after Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released a statement over the weekend, saying nearly every sector along southwest border has exceeded capacity.
Additionally, the president is considering closing down the southern border if Mexico doesn’t do more to stop illegal immigrants from crossing into the U.S.
President Trump is set to visit the border crossing in Calexico, California later this week.
In this Thursday, March 14, 2019, photo, a group of migrant families walk from the Rio Grande, the river separating the U.S. and Mexico in Texas, near McAllen, Texas. The migrants said they crossed the river in an inflatable raft and were hoping to be apprehended by the Border Patrol so they could be processed and released. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has ordered hundreds of Border Patrol personnel to redeploy to the southern border amid the growing crisis.
Nielsen sent a directive to CBP’s commissioner Monday, outlining the steps the agency must take to combat the influx of immigrants. She said the crisis is getting worse, and the Department of Homeland Security will do everything it can to end it.
The secretary wants about 750 personnel in areas most affected by the crisis, and has directed CBP to enforce an initiative to require migrants to stay in Mexico until an immigration court reviews their asylum applications.