Trump calls for “massive cities of tents” and indefinite detention of immigrants
By
Eric London
2 November 2018
In a press conference yesterday afternoon, US President Donald Trump announced a series of immigration proposals that are without precedent in US history. Denouncing immigration as “an invasion,” Trump said he was planning on announcing the new measures in an executive order at the beginning of next week.
Hours before he was greeted at a Missouri campaign rally with raucous cheers of “USA! USA!” and “Build that wall,” Trump outlined his vision of massive concentration camps and border showdowns between armed soldiers and defenseless asylum seekers.
First, Trump said he had already ordered immigration officials to indefinitely detain all immigrants arrested crossing the border, as opposed to releasing immigrants while their court cases are pending.
“We are going to no longer release,” he said. “We are going to catch. We are not going to release. They are going to stay with us until the deportation hearing or the asylum hearing takes place. So we are not releasing them into the community. We have no use for people that over the years have been released into the community.”
Second, Trump proposed ending the right of immigrants crossing the US-Mexico border without documentation to apply for asylum.
“Under this plan, illegal aliens will no longer get a free pass into the country by lodging meritless claims in seeking asylum. Migrants seeking asylum will have to present themselves lawfully at a port of entry. Those who choose to break the laws and enter illegally will no longer be able to use meritless claims to gain automatic admission into our country. We will hold them for a long time, if…