President Donald Trump on Monday morning unleashed another round of Twitter tough talk on illegal immigration, slamming Mexico and Democrats and demanding that Congress pass "border legislation."
"Mexico has the absolute power not to let these large 'Caravans' of people enter their country. They must stop them at their Northern Border, which they can do because their border laws work, not allow them to pass through into our country, which has no effective border laws," Trump wrote in the first of three early-morning tweets.
The president added that "Congress must immediately pass Border Legislation" and "use Nuclear Option if necessary, to stop the massive inflow of Drugs and People." The nuclear option refers to a last-resort maneuver in the Senate to change the rules so that action can be taken with a simple majority of 51 votes and not the 60-vote threshold that is needed for the minority to break a filibuster.
"Border Patrol Agents (and ICE) are GREAT, but the weak Dem laws don't allow them to do their job. Act now Congress, our country is being stolen!" he wrote.
Trump also resumed fire on the issue of DACA, writing that it is "dead because the Democrats didn't care or act, and now everyone wants to get onto the DACA bandwagon."
"No longer works. Must build Wall and secure our borders with proper Border legislation. Democrats want No Borders, hence drugs and crime!" he posted.
The tweets largely echoed a Twitter stream Trump unleashed on Easter Sunday, when he posted a series of hard-line messages on immigration, just after wishing his Twitter followers a "HAPPY EASTER!"
On Sunday, Trump declared there would be "NO MORE DACA DEAL," called on congressional Republicans to pass tougher immigration policies because the U.S. border with Mexico is "Getting more dangerous,” threatened the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and called for his desired border wall.
He also claimed, without providing context, that "Caravans' coming." "Fox and Friends" aired a segment earlier Sunday that included a screen banner that read: "CARAVAN OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS HEADED TO U.S."
The president was criticized on Sunday by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other Democrats.
"Time and time again, the president has walked away from bipartisan proposals that are exactly what he asked for," said Drew Hamill, a spokesman for Pelosi. "When an agreement to protect the Dreamers is reached, it will be despite this president rather than with his leadership.”
Trump ended DACA — an Obama-era program that protected millions of immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children — in September, but has said he wants protections for Dreamers, as DACA recipients are known, as part of a broader immigration bill.
Despite months of negotiations, a deal on DACA that would get the support of the White House has not emerged.