President Trump Visits Completed Border Wall; Pictures!

CNN had the following to say about Trump's border wall visit:

President Trump paid a visit to the US-Mexico border today, following a week of confusing comments over whether he'd shut it down. 

During his border visit, Trump spoke about the wall's durability, saying it was “very, very hard to climb.”

“If you want to climb that, it's pretty sharp up on top, too. If you want to climb that then you deserve whatever you can get, but it’s very, very hard. It’s meant anti-climb. It’s called anti-climb, so it’s a great wall and … I think it looks fantastic — very see-through, so you’re able to see the other side, which is a very important element.”

The President stopped in Calexico, California, to tour replacement border fencing and participate in a border security roundtable. He met with a group of law enforcement and immigration officials, as well as members of Congress and his administration.

The Los Angeles Times had the following to say about the details:

President Trump argued Friday that the nation is suffering an immigration emergency, visiting the town of Calexico and inspecting a reconstructed border fence a day after he abruptly backed down from his threats to seal the lengthy border between Mexico and the United States.

With those threats behind him, Trump shifted gears and promised to construct 400 miles of border wall in the next two years, an unlikely benchmark for a president who has yet to build a single new mile of wall along the 2,000-mile border with Mexico.

The section Trump visited Friday was a replacement of existing barrier planned during the Obama administration and paid for during Trump’s first year in office.

“It’s better, faster and less expensive,” he said as he stood before a slatted 30-foot-high fence.

Trump nonetheless conceded that getting money from congressional Democrats for any new wall construction was “like pulling teeth” even as he projected victory in his bitter funding battles with Congress.

The trip to California was intended to persuade the public that his declaration of emergencywas necessary to circumvent Congress and to combat what the administration calls a national crisis. The Democratic-controlled House challenged the declaration in federal court in Washington even as Trump was in Calexico.

“We’re really making progress in letting people know that this is an absolute emergency,” Trump said during a roundtable discussion with local and national officials in Calexico.

“It’s a colossal surge and it’s overwhelming our immigration system and we can’t let that happen,” he said.

He said Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has separately sued Trump over his emergency declarationand said the state's national guard would not be deployed at the border, is “living in a different world … a dangerous world” and he accused Newsom of creating “lots of problems for the people of California.”

Trump, who made his third trip to California since entering the White House, has railed against Mexico for not stopping thousands of Central American families who have crossed Mexico in an effort to seek asylum in the United States.

“The system is full, can’t take you anymore," Trump said, referring to migrants who are seeking asylum or crossing the border illegally. “So turn around. That’s the way it is.”

Trump repeated his claims that most asylum seekers are lying about fearing persecution at home. He argued further — without any evidence — that many are gang members who are coached by attorneys and engaged in a “hoax.”

“Rough, tough people with criminal records are asking for asylum," he said.

Trump has often sought to conflate illegal immigration and asylum, which has been enshrined in U.S. and international law for decades. Several of the administration's attempts to curb asylum claims have been reversed by federal courts.

Trump had repeatedly threatened to close the border in recent days, raising expectations that he would use his visit to a section of recently upgraded fencing in Calexico to announce at least a partial closure.

CBS News gave more comments regarding Trump's words at the roundtable meeting with Customs and Border Patrol officials he attended while in Calexico:

President Trump referred to some asylum seekers as gang members, and he disparaged asylum as a "scam" and a "hoax" during a visit to the southern border, in Calexico, California Friday.  His visit to California came amid his threats to close the border, and followed soon after announcing his nominee for director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Ron Vitiello, would not be the permanent pick to head ICE after all. 

Mr. Trump said Friday afternoon that the U.S. asylum system was full, and could not take any more "asylum people." He claimed that some of those seeking asylum were actually gang members.

"I look at some of these asylum people, they're gang members," he said. "They're not afraid of anything. They have lawyers greeting them. They read what lawyers tell them to read." Mr. Trump added that it was a "scam."

"It's a scam. It's a hoax. I know about hoaxes. I just went through a hoax," he said in a veiled reference to the Russia collusion probe.

"The system is full. We can't take you anymore. Whether it's asylum. Whether it's anything you want. It's illegal immigration," he continued.

During a roundtable meeting with Customs and Border Patrol officials in Calexico, the president emphasized the need for a border wall, something echoed by those selected to sit at the table with him. Mr. Trump also announced he'd hold a news conference at the White House next week to talk about the things his administration is doing to curb the flow of opioids and other hazards at the southern border. He had previously said he would hold a news conference during his trip to California.

Earlier on Friday, the president, speaking to reporters on the White House South Lawn before leaving for California, explained his administration want to go in a "tougher direction" than Vitiello. 

"Ron's a good man, but we're going in a tougher direction," Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump is in Calexico to look at what the White House says is new border wall construction. Mr. Trump is then flying to Beverly Hills for GOP fundraisers and then will travel to Las Vegas.

On Friday morning, the president reiterated his threat to impose 25% tariffs on cars coming from Mexico if immigrants continue to enter the U.S. over the southern border in large numbers. He said that Mexico has been doing an "absolutely terrific" job for last few days in stemming the flow of undocumented migrants since he threatened close the border last week.

"If they apprehend people at their southern border, where they don't have to walk through, that's a big home run," Mr. Trump said. He called on Congress to scrap the current the asylum system, and reiterated his desire to "get rid of judges" who rule against his immigration policies.

Watch President Trump visit and speak about the completed section of the border wall here: