US President Donald Trump rolled out a new slogan for his proposed southern border wall on Wednesday, as a historically long partial government shutdown triggered by his demands for barrier funds entered its 33rd day, AP reports.
The former businessman attempted to rebrand the politically polarizing barrier a day before the Senate will hold a procedural vote on his proposal for USD 5.7 billion in border wall funding and temporary protections for undocumented migrants protected by the Barack Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Trump used a pair of Wednesday morning tweets to roll out this slogan: “BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL!”
He explained the new moniker, signaling he intends to employ it during his expected re-election campaign.
“This is the new theme, for two years until the Wall is finished (under construction now), of the Republican Party. Use it and pray!” he wrote, again not offering any data to support his years-old claim that undocumented migrants here illegally automatically spawn higher crime rates.
Democratic lawmakers and immigration experts have pushed back against the president’s contention that his wall is being built. They say previously existing fencing has been repaired in some places, but no new walling or fencing has been constructed.
Multiple polls show a majority of Americans do not view a border barrier as a solution to the situation at the U.S.-Mexico boundary, which Trump and other senior administration officials have started calling a security and humanitarian “crisis.”
For instance, a recent Quinnipiac University survey found that 43 percent of those polled support building a wall, while 55 percent do not.
But it remains wildly popular with Trump’s conservative base: 88 percent of GOP voters polled support it. But 92 percent of Democrats oppose a wall, and 59 percent of independents oppose it.
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