WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump vowed on Monday that the United States would not become a “migrant camp” as he faced mounting pressure to stop families being separated as a deterrent to illegal immigration.

“The United States will not be a migrant camp, and it will not be a refugee holding facility,” Trump said in remarks delivered at the White House. “It won’t be.” “You look at what’s happening in Europe, you look at what’s happening in other places, we can’t allow that to happen to the United States. Not on my watch.”

About 2,000 children have been separated from their parents or guardians over six weeks, according to US authorities, since the Trump administration announced that all migrants illegally crossing the Mexican border would be arrested, regardless of whether the adults were seeking asylum.

Since children cannot be sent to the facilities where their parents are held, they are separated from them.

Trump has repeatedly said he wants family separations to end, but has refused to take responsibility for them — instead blaming Democrats, the minority party in Congress, whom he accuses of blocking legislation on the broader issue of illegal immigration.

He doubled down on that claim on Monday in a series of tweets, and again in remarks before a meeting of the National Space Council.

“If the Democrats would sit down instead of obstructing, we could have something done very quickly. Good for the children, good for the country, good for the world,” he said.

“We have the worst immigration laws in the entire world.” “We’re stuck with these horrible laws. They’re horrible laws. What’s happening is so sad, is so sad. And it can be taken care of quickly, beautifully,” he said.

“But just remember, a country without borders is not a country at all. We need borders, we need security. We need safety. We have to take care of our people.

US ‘space force’

President Donald Trump on Monday ordered the Pentagon to create a new US “space force,” which would become the sixth branch of the American military and would ensure “American dominance” in space.

“I’m hereby directing the Department of Defence and Pentagon to immediately begin the process necessary to establish a space force as the sixth branch of the armed forces,” Trump said.

“We are going to have the Air Force, and we are going to have the space force, separate but equal,” he added.

“When it comes to defending America it is not enough to merely have an American presence in space, we must have American dominance in space.” Details about the role and timing of the space force were not immediately clear.

Trump’s comments came at the start of the third meeting of the National Space Council, an advisory body led by Vice President Mike Pence.

Trump also announced he would sign a directive on space traffic management, aimed at monitoring objects in orbit so as to avoid collisions and debris strikes.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2018