Donald Trump has stepped up his rhetorical attack over immigration ahead of next week’s midterm elections, using a White House address on Thursday to float what is possibly an unconstitutional clampdown on asylum-seekers – and hinted that even people throwing stones while at the US border could be targeted with military firepower.
In a session lasting almost an hour in the Roosevelt Room, Trump talked tough on immigration but failed to deliver much in the way of specifics. White House aides had previously billed the event inaccurately as a policy announcement.
In lurid language that resembled one of his rally speeches more than a presidential address, he vowed to prevent the “violent” Central American migrant caravan heading to the southern border from “invading” the country. He said a comprehensive executive order would be released next week, though it was not clear what it would contain.
Instead, he made vague pledges that thousands would be held indefinitely in “massive cities of tents” apparently now being built at the border with military assistance. He also implied that in future asylum seekers would only be able to petition the US for safe haven by approaching designated border posts.
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