WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump warned Monday that the United States must avoid the immigration problems facing Europe and he attacked the policies of Germany, one of the United States’ closest allies.
In a series of Twitter posts, Trump falsely claimed that crime in Germany is on the rise, and railed against immigration policies in Europe, even as his own policies at home face bipartisan criticism about the separation of children from parents when they are stopped at U.S. borders.
Germany’s government is on precarious political footing as disputes grow about Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door refugee policy for those seeking asylum.
“The people of Germany are turning against their leadership as migration is rocking the already tenuous Berlin coalition,” Trump wrote. “Crime in Germany is way up. Big mistake made all over Europe in allowing millions of people in who have so strongly and violently changed their culture!”
In another tweet he wrote, “We don’t want what is happening with immigration in Europe to happen with us!”
On Sunday, leaders in Trump’s own party and Democrats called for the end of the president’s practice of separating children from their parents when families arrive at U.S. borders seeking entry. The Trump administration has separated at least 2,000 children from their parents in the last six weeks. The White House has falsely said it is just enforcing the immigration law, when in fact, there is no such law.
The president on Monday also said that children are being used as a means for criminals to enter the United States, and he cited the crime in countries south of the United States’ borders.
“Children are being used by some of the worst criminals on earth as a means to enter our country,” Trump wrote. “Has anyone been looking at the Crime taking place south of the border. It is historic, with some countries the most dangerous places in the world. Not going to happen in the U.S.”
And he again blamed Democrats for border security problems.
“It is the Democrats fault for being weak and ineffective with Boarder Security and Crime,” he wrote. “Tell them to start thinking about the people devastated by Crime coming from illegal immigration.”
Trump said in a tweet, “CHANGE THE LAWS!”
While Trump’s assessment of Germany’s crime problems is not accurate — as crime numbers in the country are the lowest since 1992, according to the most recent German data available — the brutal murder of a 14-year-old German girl has fueled Merkel’s opponents who are against the country’s migration policies that provide entry to some 10,000 asylum-seekers each month.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Tags:
World News