US President Donald Trump has indicated that he could take more radical anti-immigration measures, threatening that he could "close up the country" if Congress does not fund his controversial border wall with Mexico, drawing sharp criticism from a top Indian-American Democrat lawmaker.
Trump has escalated his rhetoric against illegal immigration in recent weeks, especially in the wake of an annual migrant caravan that is seeking asylum in the US. He has also ordered the National Guard to deploy troops to the border to address what the administration calls a "crisis" there.
Addressing his supporters in Cleveland, Ohio, Trump slipped in the idea that people might "have to think about closing up the country."
Trump then mentioned the notion a second time, saying, "And we may have to close up our country to get this straight, because we either have a country or we don't. And you can't allow people to pour into our country the way they're doing."
Meanwhile, Democratic House of Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington told CNN that Trump "is absolutely out of his mind to think that is any kind of a reasonable solution for our economy or compassionate or in line with our values."
On Friday, Trump said America's southern border is "under siege."
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