Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2018 Remarks at a Roundtable
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Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2018 Remarks at a Roundtable Discussion on California's Immigration Enforcement Policies May 16, 2018 The President. Good afternoon. I'm greatly honored to be here with the courageous mayors and sheriffs and local leaders from across the State of California, a great State. Each of you has bravely resisted California's deadly and unconstitutional sanctuary State laws. You've gone through a lot too, although it's becoming quite popular what you're doing. A law that forces the release of illegal immigrant criminals, drug dealers, gang members, and violent predators into your communities. California's law provides safe harbor to some of the most vicious and violent offenders on Earth, like MS–13 gang members putting innocent men, women, and children at the mercy of these sadistic criminals. But we're moving them out of this country by the thousands. MS–13, we're grabbing them by the thousands and we're getting them out, Kevin. We're also joined by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Jeff, thank you. The Secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen. Secretary, thank you very much. [Laughter] I know you folks are keeping busy, right? Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen. Yes, sir. The President. Keeping busy at those borders. And Deputy ICE Director, Tom Homan, who's going to be leaving us soon for a life of retirement. But there's no such thing as retirement for Tom. You've done a fantastic job, and we appreciate it very much, Tom. Incredible job. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Thomas D. Homan. I'm not leaving the fight, sir. [Laughter] The President. I know that. Oh, you'll never leave the fight. No, you'll always be in. Also with us is House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who's been a special friend of mine. He represents California's 23d Congressional District, and he is very, very popular. And I just recently saw a poll of Kevin. I think the opposition might as well just go home, because Kevin, they love him out there, and he's done an incredible job. He's brought it home. And we appreciate it, Kevin, the great job you've done for the country. Thank you very much. Unfortunately, Congress—and I'd have to say, congressional Democrats—you take a look at what has been going on and what's going on with the laws, whether it's catch-and-release, whether it's any of the things that we're fighting for so hard. Now, we have started the wall. We're spending $1.6 billion between fixing and starting. You know, Melissa, what's been going on. We're getting it up. We have a lot of folks in California, they don't talk about it, but they want the wall up, and they're very happy. That's one of the reasons we started in California. But we made a lot of progress on it, and now we're going for the full funding for the wall, and we're going to try and get that as soon as possible. But it's become a very popular issue. In January, the Los Angeles Police Department arrested an illegal immigrant from Mexico for drug possession. Instead of honoring the ICE detainer, they set him free. Just a few weeks later, he was arrested again, this time for murder. So they arrested him, they had him, they let him go. Tom, you've seen this. They let him go, and he killed somebody. And it's happening more and more. And we get them out as fast as we can. We have the worst laws anywhere in the world for illegal immigration. There's no place in the world that has laws like we do. Catch-and-release, think of it. We catch somebody, we find out they're criminals. We end up having to release them, and they go into our society. Now, we do the best we can, I'll tell you. We do better than anybody. And our numbers are much better than in the past, but they're not nearly acceptable and not nearly as good as what we could have. We're down 40 percent from those other standards, so that's really good—meaning 40 percent crossings. So that's good. But we can do much better. Part of the problem that we have is, our economy is so strong that people are pouring up to get into our economy. They want a piece of our economy. And that makes the job even tougher. But we want to keep—we want people based on merit. We want people to come into our country based on merit. We're not looking to keep them out. We're looking to bring them in. We need them. We have companies moving back into the United States like never before. Chrysler is opening up now in Michigan. We have so many companies actually coming from Mexico, even, and coming back in. So we want people coming in based on merit. We all remember the tragic case of Marilyn Pharis in California who was murdered by an illegal immigrant who had been arrested six times prior to breaking into Marilyn's home, raping her, and savagely beating her to death with a hammer. And this is one example, but there are many examples. I've been saying it for a long time. We cannot let this butchery happen in America. The State of California's attempts to nullify Federal law have sparked a rebellion by patriotic citizens who want their families protected and their borders secured. They want border security. They want protection. That's what we're all about. We're about protection, both from international and from, frankly, people crossing our border illegally. I will now go around the room and ask these incredible mayors and officials to discuss their brave stand on behalf of their constituents. They are very popular, they are very well respected. These are the top people. And they are people that other people listen to, and they listen to them from around the country. So I'll begin by asking California Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez—and you have been an inspiration to a lot of people, Melissa. So maybe you could say a few words, and we'll go right around the room, okay? California State Assemblywoman Melissa A. Melendez. Thank you, Mr. President. The President. Thank you. Assemblywoman Melendez. I just want to start off by saying, on behalf of everyone here, thank you for inviting us. There are more people in California, I think, than you know who support what you're doing, who believe in your agenda in securing our borders. Everywhere in between, from San Francisco to Los Angeles, you have millions of people who want to see that our borders are secure and that our neighborhoods are safe. So we want to thank you for what you're doing. The President. Thank you. Assemblywoman Melendez. I have been in office in California for 5 years now, and it's interesting to me that you've been in office for a year almost? The President. Yes, 17—17 months. Seventeen years would be nice. It's 17, but—[laughter]. Assemblywoman Melendez. But you have invited us here to talk about this issue. I've been in office in California for 5 years. Not once has Governor Brown invited any Republican to discuss this issue in California. And it is a crisis. That's the point we're at in California. It's a crisis. [At this point, Assemblywoman Melendez continued her remarks, concluding as follows.] And I think the resistance that started in the Democrat Party, this is your Republican resistance right here against what they're doing in California. The President. And beyond Republican. I mean, this has really become a Democrat issue, a Republican issue. I think a lot of the Democrat politicians don't understand what's going on. Because it's actually good politically. People want safety. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Assemblywoman Melendez. Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. The President. Sam, go ahead. Mayor Sam Abed of Escondido, CA. Thank you, Mr. President. I am a proud immigrant here from Lebanon. Thirty years ago, I came here to live the American Dream, and we did well. Jerry Brown wants to take this American Dream from us. I see myself—— The President. He'll going to be retired pretty soon, won't he? Mayor Abed. I hope so. Assemblywoman Melendez. End of the year. End of the year. The President. Somebody said he's going to run for President. I said: "Please. Please run." [Laughter] But no, I think he's going to be retired, from what I understand, pretty soon. Mayor Abed. I see myself fighting for these values that made our country great, Mr. President. We are aligned with your goals. Here's the success story of Escondido. When I was elected mayor in 2010, I made the agreement with ICE. We brought eight ICE agents to Escondido, to our police station. Since then, we deported over 2,700 illegal criminals from our city and made Escondido as safe as it was in 1980. This is a great success story, and our cooperation with ICE and the San Diego ICE is a very compelling model for the Nation to follow. In our city, more immigrant people report crime. And this narrative that sanctuary city will allow more immigrants to report crime is fake news, Mr.