Congress failed to do their Constitutional duty to make a law or set of laws that would protect the border and prevent children from being separated from the parents or legal guardians and now President Donald Trump has decided to rescue members of Congress by issuing an executive order.
The president indicated Wednesday that he would “be signing something” that will “keep families together,” although he didn’t indicate what exactly would be contained in the executive order.
“We still have to maintain toughness or our country will be overrun by people, by crime, by all of the things that we don’t stand for and that we don’t want,” Trump said during a Wednesday meeting with members of Congress. “So I’m going to be signing an executive order in a little while before I go to Minnesota. But at the same time, I think you have to understand we are keeping families together, but we have to keep our borders strong.”
The president’s comments indicate that he will find a way to comply with the Flores Consent Decree, the Flores v. Lynch Decision and maintain his zero-tolerance policy of prosecuting anyone that crosses the border illegally. One way to meet all three demands would be to have order DHS to use already allocated funds to hire more immigration judges and/or create more facilities that meet the Flores Decree.
Trump also said that his executive order is expected to be temporary as he expects Congress to pass legislation – similar to his order – soon.
Trump said that he would sign something before taking off to hold a roundtable on American workers and to host a MAGA rally in Duluth, Minnesota. He is scheduled to depart the White House at 2:30 p.m. EDT.
