Washington, Jan 26 (IANS) US President Donald Trump renewed his call for a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration, urged Democratic governors and mayors to cooperate with federal authorities, and said his administration was “reviewing everything” related to the fatal shooting of a man by a federal officer in Minneapolis.
In a series of posts on Truth Social, Trump blamed the previous administration for what he described as a surge in criminal migration and said his election victory was driven by promise to seal the border and carry out mass deportations.
“During the four years of Crooked Joe Biden and Democrat failed leadership, Tens of Millions of Illegal Alien Criminals poured into our Country,” Trump wrote, claiming they included “Hundreds of Thousands of Convicted Murderers, Rapists, Kidnappers, Drug Dealers, and Terrorists.”
Trump said he won the election “in a Historic Landslide” and that Republicans secured majorities in both chambers of Congress because they pledged to “SEAL THE BORDER.” He said that pledge had been fulfilled and that “the largest Mass Deportation of Illegal Alien Criminals in American History” was now underway.
“This Deportation effort is underway, and in Republican run Cities and States, these operations are going peacefully and smoothly,” Trump said, crediting cooperation between local police and federal authorities.
Citing five Republican-led states — Texas, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Louisiana — Trump said Immigration and Customs Enforcement had arrested “150,245 Criminal Illegal Aliens over the past year — with ZERO protests, riots, or chaos.”
“Why?” he asked. “Because Local Police and ICE are cooperating and working together.”
Trump sharply criticized Democratic-led “Sanctuary Cities and States,” accusing them of refusing to cooperate with ICE and of “encouraging Leftwing Agitators to unlawfully obstruct their operations.”
“By doing this, Democrats are putting Illegal Alien Criminals over Taxpaying, Law-Abiding Citizens,” he wrote, adding that “two American Citizens have lost their lives as a result of this Democrat ensued chaos.”
In a subsequent post, Trump called on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, as well as “EVERY Democrat Governor and Mayor,” to formally cooperate with his administration.
He demanded that state and local authorities turn over “all Criminal Illegal Aliens that are currently incarcerated,” agree to hand over “all Illegal Aliens arrested by Local Police,” and assist federal officers in apprehending those “who are wanted for Crimes.”
Trump also urged Congress to “immediately pass Legislation to END Sanctuary Cities,” saying American cities should be “Safe Sanctuaries for Law Abiding American Citizens ONLY.”
“All of these requests are rooted in COMMON SENSE,” he said, adding that his administration was waiting for Democrats “to do the right thing.”
The president’s comments came as his administration faced growing scrutiny over immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota, including a fatal shooting over the weekend.
In a five-minute telephone interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump declined to say whether the federal officer who shot and killed Alex Pretti, 37, acted appropriately.
“We’re looking, we’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination,” Trump said when pressed on the matter.
“I don’t like any shooting. I don’t like it,” he added. “But I don’t like it when somebody goes into a protest and he’s got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn’t play good either.”
Trump asserted that Pretti was carrying a “very dangerous gun, a dangerous and unpredictable gun,” saying, “It’s a gun that goes off when people don’t know it.” The Department of Homeland Security has said Pretti was carrying a 9mm semiautomatic handgun.
The president also signaled that immigration enforcement officers could eventually leave the Minneapolis area.
“At some point we will leave. We’ve done, they’ve done a phenomenal job,” Trump said, adding that another group would remain “for the financial fraud.”
Trump cited a welfare-fraud investigation in Minnesota as a justification for intensified enforcement. “It’s the biggest fraud anyone has seen,” he said. “We actually think California is going to be much bigger.”
Pretti, an intensive-care nurse, was filming Border Patrol agents on a Minneapolis street when he was shot and pronounced dead at the scene. Federal authorities initially said he “violently resisted” officers, though bystander video reviewed by The Wall Street Journal appeared to contradict that account.
--IANS
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