US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to “entirely” close the southern US border with Mexico if lawmakers refuse his demands to fund a wall.
This photo shows the border fence under construction near New Mexico's Highway 9, near Santa Teresa on December 23, 2018. - The US government began a Christmastime shutdown early on December 22, after Congress adjourned without passing a federal spending bill or addressing President Donald Trump's demand for money to build a border wall. (AFP Photo)
“We will be forced to close the Southern Border entirely if the Obstructionist Democrats do not give us the money to finish the Wall & also change the ridiculous immigration laws that our Country is saddled with,” Trump tweeted.
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The Republican leader’s warning came as a partial federal government shutdown was set to drag on into next week, with legislators in Washington failing to reach a compromise over Trump’s insistence on funding the border barrier.
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The Republican leader’s warning came as a partial federal government shutdown was set to drag on into next week, with legislators in Washington failing to reach a compromise over Trump’s insistence on funding the border barrier.
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Both sides have dug in, with Democrats refusing to provide $5 billion for the project and the president -- who has made hardline immigration polices a centerpiece of his presidency -- vowing he will not fully fund the government unless he gets the money.
In November, Trump threatened to close the “whole border” with Mexico if “it gets to a level where we’re going to lose control or people are going to start getting hurt.”
Days later US authorities dramatically shuttered a border crossing in southern California after hundreds of migrants -- part of the “caravan” Trump had roundly condemned -- tried to breach a fence from the Mexican city of Tijuana.
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The temporary closing saw border agents halt vehicles and pedestrians at the San Ysidro crossing point, one of the busiest between the neighboring countries.
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