Republicans Scramble to Fix Border Crisis as Trump Digs In
*By Alisha Haridasani*
President Trump again deflected blame for tearing apart families at the U.S. border and suggested deporting entire family units, as Republicans scrambled to come up with legislation to address the crisis.
“I don’t want children taken away from parents,” the president said in a broad-ranging speech at the National Federation of Independent Business on Tuesday.
“We want to end the border crisis by finally giving us the legal authorities and the resources to detain and remove illegal immigrant families,” he said.
The president also threatened to cut off foreign aid for all the countries “sending their people up.”
“We’re not going to give anymore aid to those countries -- why the hell should we?”
His comments came as House Republicans tried to draw up a plan to fix overall immigration policy, providing things such as a pathway to citizenship for so-called Dreamers, funding for the president's proposed border wall, and an end to the separation of families.
The administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy, implemented in April by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, penalizes all adult immigrants entering the country unlawfully. Since courts have ruled in the past that children cannot be jailed, the new policy has resulted in more than 2,000 children being separated from their families and held at detention centers while their parents are processed.
Images of the crying children have ignited [bipartisan backlash](https://cheddar.com/videos/trump-defends-harsh-immigration-policy-as-lawmakers-call-for-change), leaving the GOP worried that the issue could cost them the midterms.
“I think there is some nervousness among some Republicans, especially among some Republicans who are a little bit loathe to agree with the president to begin with, that this is going to become a big rallying cry,” said Politico reporter Louis Nelson.
The Wall Street Journal, a right-leaning publication, released an [editorial](https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-gops-immigration-meltdown-1529364334) on Tuesday bashing what the paper calls an “election-year nightmare.”
“Are Republicans trying to lose their majorities in Congress this November?” the op-ed read. It called for an immediate end to the zero-tolerance policy.
Major tech companies, including Microsoft and Apple, also condemned the administration’s actions, adding to pressure on Trump to change course.
“I think that what’s happening is inhumane, it needs to stop,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook.
In the face of the backlash, most of Trump's aides have outwardly stuck to the same talking points. Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen defended the practice during a White House briefing on Monday, claiming that the DHS was only "enforcing the laws passed by Congress."
David Nelson, Chief Strategist at Belpointe, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says that Wednesday's market movement shows a rotation back into the industries that were hit hard in January, but says his eyes are firmly fixed on the January CPI data set to be released Thursday.
Russia is preparing alongside Belarus for reportedly one of the largest joint military exercises ever held. Some analysts are concerned this could be a disguise for a real attack, while the Kremlin contends that the exercise is meant to confront potential "unprecedented security threats." Christian Whiton, a former State Department senior advisor, joined Cheddar News to break down the still tense situation. "While it could of course be a prelude to invasion, it seems like the Biden administration is signaling that if you look at Europeans, the Germans and Macron … who just met with Putin, they seem to be thinking that maybe this is a show of force by Russia intended at political intimidation, not actual invasion," said Whiton.
Truckers in Canada have blockaded the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest border crossing between Canada and the U.S. protesting a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Cheddar News spoke with Samir Kapadia, head of trade practice at the Vogal Group, about how this impacts trade between the two countries.
New York City is not only dealing with the ongoing pandemic, it’s also facing a surge in crime. President Biden recently traveled to New York to meet with the city’s new mayor, Eric Adams, to discuss the rise in crime and gun violence.
The president praised Mayor Adams' crimefighting agenda and unveiled a new federal initiative to curb the flow of illegal weapons from the south. Josefa Velásquez, Senior Reporter for THE CITY, joined Cheddar's Fast Forward to talk about how the mayor is battling this increase in crime in his first weeks in office.
The Democratic governors of New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, and Oregon say they will lift mask requirements for schools in the coming weeks, reflecting a nationwide shift away from restrictions. Cheddar News speaks with internist Dr. Vivek Cherian whether it's safe to relax the regulation.
Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama are set to begin voting to unionize for a second time after workers at the facility in the town of Bessemer overwhelmingly voted against forming a union during an election early last year; but in November, the National Labor Relations Board overturned the vote, upholding a union challenge of the results which argued that Amazon undermined the conditions for a fair election. Another round of ballots will now be mailed out to works at the warehouse for a so-called re-run election. Director of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University John Logan and National Field Director for Our Revolution Mike Oles joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
David Daley, author of the book 'Unrigged: How Americans Are Battling Back to Save Democracy,' joins Cheddar News to discuss redistricting battles taking place across the U.S.
