WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says Mexico has “got to help us at the border.”
The president said a lot of people are coming into the U.S. from Mexico because they want to take advantage of a U.S. program that protects “Dreamer” immigrants from deportation.
Trump ended the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program last year, though a federal judge has ordered the administration to continue renewing permits.
Months of negotiations between the White House and lawmakers in both parties have failed to produce a deal to protect the “Dreamers.”
Trump tweeted about the issue before he attended Easter services at a church near his Palm Beach, Florida, home. The president was accompanied by his wife, Melania, and daughter Tiffany.
Asked about the tweets, Trump blamed Democrats, saying they blew a “great, great chance” to make a deal.
He is expected to return to his Mar-a-Lago estate afterward to join other families for annual Easter festivities, including brunch and an Easter egg hunt.
Trump has attended the Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea for years. It’s also where he and the first lady got married in 2005.
The president opened the religious holiday by tweeting “HAPPY EASTER!” to his many followers. He complained in a follow-up tweet about “ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws” that he says make it harder for Border Patrol agents to do their jobs. He also said a deal to help immigrants known as “Dreamers” was “NO MORE.”
Hosted by Trump and his wife, the annual White House Easter Egg Roll will be held Monday, April 2. It starts at 7:30 a.m. E.T. and ends at 12:15 p.m. E.T.