Trump reignites call for border wall

President Trump on Friday reignited his calls for a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border with a tweet attacking the governments of El Salvador and Mexico. 

In an early-morning tweet, the president alleged that MS-13 gang members originating from El Salvador are traveling through Mexico and re-entering the U.S. after being deported. The two countries’ governments, Trump said, are not doing enough to stop them.

{mosads}

“MS-13 gang members are being removed by our Great ICE and Border Patrol Agents by the thousands, but these killers come back in from El Salvador, and through Mexico, like water. El Salvador just takes our money, and Mexico must help MORE with this problem. We need The Wall!” the president wrote.

MS-13 gang members are being removed by our Great ICE and Border Patrol Agents by the thousands, but these killers come back in from El Salvador, and through Mexico, like water. El Salvador just takes our money, and Mexico must help MORE with this problem. We need The Wall!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 23, 2018

Trump has frequently used MS-13, a criminal drug cartel that originated in Los Angeles in the 1980s, to build support for his signature campaign promise to build a physical barrier along the U.S. southern border.

The Trump administration’s insistence on funding for increased border security and wide restrictions on legal immigration has led to a stalemate over immigration reform in Congress, which is rushing to protect Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipients before the program expires next month.

In January, Trump was slammed by Democrats when he seemingly accused MS-13 members of infiltrating the ranks of DACA recipients as unaccompanied minors traveling to the U.S. during his State of the Union speech.

“Many of these gang members took advantage of glaring loopholes in our laws to enter the country as unaccompanied alien minors,” Trump said last month.

“Tonight, I am calling on Congress to finally close the deadly loopholes that have allowed MS-13, and other criminals, to break into our country,” he added.