Donald Trump Jr. has blamed Democrats for the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border and pointed to the large numbers of migrants currently encamped underneath a bridge in Texas.
Former President Donald Trump's eldest son took to Twitter on Friday to share a campaign from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and criticize Democrats' handling of the situation.
At least 12,000 migrants are now in a makeshift camp under the Del Rio International Bridge in the small town of Del Rio, Texas having crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico.
Trump Jr. tweeted: "THOUSANDS of illegal aliens are camped out under a Texas bridge, rushing to America because they know the Democrats want to give them amnesty."
"The border crisis is OUT OF CONTROL. Tell Democrats to abandon their amnesty plans and secure our border," the former president's son said.
He shared a link to a webpage operated by the NRSC which sought contact information from those who wanted to "STOP Democrats' OPEN BORDER agenda."
The page also says: "Thousands of migrants rush to the Texas border as Democrats include an amnesty plan in the 'Infrastructure' bill. Why do Democrats think illegal immigrants are infrastructure?"
The $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill passed by the Senate in August instructed the Judiciary Committee to prepare a plan to grant "lawful permanent status for qualified immigrants," which may include those who were brought to the country as children - so-called Dreamers - but also possibly others like farm and essential workers and those with Temporary Protected Status.
THOUSANDS of illegal aliens are camped out under a Texas bridge, rushing to America because they know the Democrats want to give them amnesty. The border crisis is OUT OF CONTROL. Tell Democrats to abandon their amnesty plans and secure our border. https://t.co/VWUSme2N3f
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 17, 2021
Democrats may also include a path to citizenship for some immigrants in the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill. Those affected would include Dreamers, those with Temporary Protected Status and farm and essential workers. Whether these measures can be included in the reconciliation is a matter for the Senate parliamentarian to rule on and Democrats are awaiting that decision.
The thousands of migrants camped beneath the Del Rio International Bridge are mostly from Haiti but they also include people from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
The bridge connects Del Rio with Ciudad Acuña in Mexico and some of the migrants have pitched tents to sleep in, while others are sleeping under blankets. More are expected to arrive and it's not clear how such a large group gathered so quickly.
Many of the Haitian migrants did not come directly from that country but had been living in South American countries including Brazil and Chile. They had traveled to the U.S. because they could not win legal status or good jobs, according to Reuters.
Uncommon Knowledge
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About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more
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