Page 2 - ARUBA TODAY

A2 UP FRONT
Wednesday 3 april 2019
Trump eases up on border shutdown threat
Immigrants from Central America seeking asylum board a bus, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in downtown San Antonio.
Continued from Front been looking at potentially
keeping truck lanes open.
White House economic “We are looking at differ- hundreds of thousands of for them. Arrests along the Shutting certain border sta-
adviser Larry Kudlow, for
example, told CNBC he’s you can keep those freight
their case.
Officials were hoping to
have as many as 300 asy-
lum seekers returned to
Mexico per day by the end
of the week near Calexico
and El Paso in Texas and
San Ysidro in California.
Right now, only 60 a day
are returned.
Nielsen has also requested
volunteers from non-im-
migration agencies within
her department and sent a
letter to Congress seeking
more money and deten-
tion space and broader
authority to deport families
faster.
The request was met with
disdain by Democrats.
Even absent the extraor-
dinary step of sealing a
national border, delays
at border stations have
been mounting due to the
personnel reassignments,
Homeland Security officials
said.
When the Otay Mesa, Cali-
fornia, entry port closed
Associated Press for the night Monday, 150
lanes, the truck lanes, into the U.S. because bor- trucks were still waiting to
open,” he said. As for the der officials had no space get into the U.S.
ent options, particularly if tourists and workers who southern border have sky- tions or parts of them would
cross the border legally, rocketed in recent months not be unprecedented.
Kudlow said, “that may be and border agents were Over the Thanksgiving
difficult.” on track to make 100,000 holiday last year, Trump
Earlier, White House press arrests or denials of entry claimed he’d already
secretary Sarah Sanders in March, a 12-year high. “closed the border” after
had told reporters that, More than half of those are officials briefly closed the
while, “Eventually, it may families with children, who northbound lanes at San
be that it’s the best deci- require extra care. Ysidro, California, for sever-
sion that we close the bor- With southern border facili- al hours in the early morn-
der,” the president was ties near a breaking point, ing to bolster security be-
“not working on a specific U.S. officials are busing cause of concerns about
timeline” and all options re- many migrants hundreds a potential influx of migrant
mained on the table. The of miles inland and drop- caravan members.
Council of Economic Advis- ping them off at bus sta- Mexican officials an-
ers, she said, was conduct- tions and churches. Trump nounced Monday they’d
ing a number of studies on has mocked and vowed pulled 338 Central Ameri-
the impact, and “working to end that “catch and can migrants —181 adults
with the president to give release” practice but over- and 157 children— off five
him those options.” whelmed authorities saw passenger buses in a south-
White House spokesman no choice. ern state that borders Gua-
Hogan Gidley said in an Responding to Trump’s temala, and said they had
appearance on MSNBC threats, Nielsen rushed detained 15 possible smug-
that closing only certain home late Monday night glers on immigration law
entry ports, or parts of all of from Europe, where she violations.
them, could be among the was attending G7 security But that was not unusual
steps short of closing the meetings and intended to for Mexico, which has for
entire border. fly to the border mid-week years been cracking down
It was a shift from Trump’s to assess the impact of on migration.
threat late last week to changes already made, In 2014 then-President En-
seal the whole border, and including reassigning some rique Pena Nieto launched
quickly. 2,000 border officers as- a program that was de-
“I am not kidding around,” signed to check vehicles to scribed as ensuring orderly
he said then, exasperated deal with migrant crowds migration but in practice
by the swelling numbers and new efforts to return resulted in making it much
of migrants, thousands of more asylum seekers to more difficult for Central
whom were being released Mexico as they wait out Americans to transit.q