Trump doubles down amid protests: Illegal border crossers must be deported ‘immediately’

President Trump doubled down Saturday on his demand that people who cross into the U.S. illegally be deported immediately, declaring that American immigration laws are “the dumbest anywhere in the world.”

“When people come into our Country illegally, we must IMMEDIATELY escort them back out without going through years of legal maneuvering,” Trump tweeted while at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., for the weekend.

“Our laws are the dumbest anywhere in the world. Republicans want Strong Borders and no Crime. Dems want Open Borders and are weak on Crime!”

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His comments came as tens of thousands of people gathered in Washington, D.C., and cities across the country on Saturday to protest the Trump administration’s immigration policies, particularly its “zero tolerance” approach that has led to thousands of migrant children being separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump’s demand in his tweet Saturday afternoon also resembled the president’s previous claim this week that immigrants caught crossing the border illegally be immediately deported without due process. 

The Trump administration has come under fire in recent weeks for the separation of migrant families, prompting the president to sign an executive order allowing children and parents to be detained together.

But under a 1997 consent decree, minors cannot be detained for longer than 20 days, leaving it unclear how the government plans to enforce the president’s executive order. 

Congress also rejected a compromise immigration bill on Wednesday that sought to address the family separations, among other issues. Lawmakers could still act on a narrower measure ending the separations.

The government was also ordered this week by a federal judge in San Diego to move quickly to reunite migrant families that had been separated, but it’s not clear how officials plan to meet the deadline for doing so imposed by the court.