U.S. Seeks to Weaken Hezbollah’s Grip on Lebanon Amid Israeli Offensive

[webfact]

Trump leaves room for negotiation in push for U.S. border wall funds

 

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a joint news conference with Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., July 30, 2018. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump threatened again on Monday to shut down the federal government over his demands for a border wall and other changes in immigration policy, but said he remains open to talks with Congress on the issue.

 

"I always leave room for negotiation," Trump said during a press conference with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the White House, adding that he has drawn no "red line" on the matter.

 

Congress must pass a spending bill by the end of September to avert a government shutdown, and Trump on Monday reiterated his demand that immigration reforms, including $25 billion for construction of a wall on U.S. border with Mexico, be included in any spending package.

 

"If we don't get border security, after many, many years of talk within the United States, I would have no problem doing a shutdown," Trump said.

 

The notion of a government shutdown was criticized by Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby.

 

Speaking to reporters in the Capitol, Shelby said, "I'm hoping the idea of shutting down the government is not a serious thing and it goes away." He added that Trump's threats would not help lawmakers craft the necessary spending bills by a Sept. 30 deadline "because we're trying to work together in a bipartisan way."

 

Beyond building a wall, the administration also wants to do away with so-called "chain migration" allowing relatives of immigrants to come to the country, and the diversity visa-lottery programme, and to move toward what Trump calls a "merit-based" immigration system.

 

The Republican president said on Sunday he would allow the federal government to shut down if Democrats do not fund his border wall and back immigration law changes, betting that maintaining a hard line will work in Republicans' favour in November congressional elections.

 

However, a disruption in federal government operations could backfire on Trump if voters blame Republicans, who control Congress, for the interruption in services.

 

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Richard Cowan; Writing by James Oliphant; Editing by Frances Kerry)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-07-31

[mtls2005]

I thought that Mexico was going to pay for "the wall"?

 

Maybe he can shut down their government?

[Chomper Higgot]

He’s trying to distract from the gathering storm.

[Redline]

This child has no say.  There are bills being formed with both parties working together, and if he’s lucky, they might give him a few nickels to rub together ?

[candide]

Some interesting data showing this wall (In case it has any effect) is not a priority:

In 2016, 1.49 million foreign-born individuals moved to the United States, a 7 percent increase from the 1.38 million coming in 2015. India was the leading country of origin, with 175,100 arriving in 2016, followed by 160,200 from China/Hong Kong, 150,400 from Mexico, 54,700 from Cuba, and 46,600 from the Philippines. India and China surpassed Mexico in 2013 as the top origin countries for recent arrivals. Among the top countries of recent immigrants, many more Cuban born arrived in 2016 (54,700) compared to 2015 (31,500)—an increase of 74 percent. In contrast, Canadian arrivals dropped 19 percent: 38,400 in 2016, versus 47,300 in 2015.

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration-united-states

also

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/historic-shift-new-migration-flows-mexico-fall-below-those-china-and-india

 

 

[ncc1701d]

2 hours ago, theonetrueaussie said:

mexico will pay for the wall in the form of import taxes, Mexico NEEDS America, All america gets from mexico is illegal immigrants and tequila ?

 

USA imports from Mexico more than it exports to Mexico. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_trading_partners_of_the_United_States

[ujayujay]

Mexico doesnt pay the Bill, Mr. Loudmouth????

[Tug]

Build a wall around Donald oh I have an idea they have a wall that suits Donald just fine it’s in Leavenworth Kansas 

[Scott]

Troll post and reply removed.  

[Scott]

Troll post removed.  

[ballpoint]

I look forward to the day when we read "Troll President removed".

[mtls2005]

Who knew Ivanka, Eric and Donald Jr. were "Anchor Babies"? (Not them, I'd guess?)

 

Or that the first Mrs. Trump was an illegal immigrant, and worked illegally in the U.S.?

 

Oh the horror of someone wanting to escape a horrible country through any means necessary, to seek a better life.

 

Was Ivanka Trump’s mother a legal immigrant? Not always

 

But the story of Trump’s mother, Ivana, actually perfectly captures how permeable the line of legality is, when it comes to immigration.

 

The president’s first wife does seem to have entered the US legally in 1976: She moved from Canada to the US to work as a promoter for Montreal’s Olympics. In New York, she met Donald Trump and married him the following year. But it took a visa scam for her to leave her native Czechoslovakia in the first place, which her lawyer Michael Kennedy described as a “Cold War marriage.”

 

In 1972, Ivana was dating George Syrovatka. But she married Austrian friend Alfred Winklmayr, a union she reportedly kept rather private (even her children didn’t know about it.) In a 1990 news conference during the divorce trial for Ivana and Donald Trump, Kennedy said that Ivana and Winklmayr married for the “sole purpose” of her leaving Czechoslovakia.

 

 

https://qz.com/1346923/ivanka-trump-says-her-mother-ivana-came-to-the-us-legally-but-only-thanks-to-an-earlier-visa-scam/