Wednesday on CNN’s “New Day,” network contributor Chris Cillizza said President Donald Trump had “seized on” the caravan of migrants currently at the U.S.-Mexico border.
According to Cillizza, Trump is trying to create an “image of a horde of people trying to overrun the borders of the country.”
Cillizza said, “I mean, I think what you’re seeing here is the contrast between what Donald Trump has seized on to score political points, what he has created, which is an image of a horde of people trying to overrun the borders of the country. And the reality, which this is not the first time the caravan has gone, as you point out. There were two last year. Three total people were granted asylum.”
He continued, “And Leyla’s point is the most important one. I wish we could say it at the top of every segment about the caravan, which is, this is the legal immigration process. These people have a right to seek asylum. The U.S. government has a right to decide their cases and say in some cases, ‘No, we’re not going to grant you asylum.’ In other cases, ‘we are.’ This is not people sneaking over the border, nor is it 200,000 people trying to overrun the borders. We’re talking about a very small group of people.”
He added, “Donald Trump seized on this because it is good for him politically. It speaks to a lot of fears of the other—of this idea that people are trying to make it into our country. We need to look out for ourselves. In point of fact, it is not only legal. You’re talking about a fraction of a fraction of people.”
(h/t Grabien)
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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