Reuters - U.S. President Donald Trump said that separating migrant families at the border could deter illegal immigration and that he was considering several options to tighten border security.
In June, Trump abandoned his policy of separating immigrant children from their parents on the U.S.-Mexico border after images of youngsters in cages sparked outrage at home and abroad.
But some Trump administration officials have said the policy, under which some 2,600 children were separated from their parents, was needed to secure the border and deter illegal immigration.
Trump seemed to support that argument on Saturday.
“If they feel there will be separation, they don’t come,” he said of migrants during comments to reporters at the White House. U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a Make America Great Again rally in Richmond, Kentucky, U.S., October 13, 2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
He's probably right. Bringing the kids is usually a ploy, not a necessity, just as claims of refugee status is generally a ploy, particularly given the existence of gangs and gang warfare in US barrios.
ReplyDeleteMotivation is typically economic. If they were offered a wage (e.g. $12K p.a.) to stay where they were, I'd bet folding money that most would take it.