From denying asylum seekers to capping refugees to separating children from their parents, President Donald Trump's immigration policies are cruel.
Sadly, he wanted them to be even more cruel, according to the new book Border Wars: Inside Trump's Assault on Immigration by New York Times correspondents Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Michael D. Shear.
The book details the development of Trump's infamous anti-immigrant policies.
In addition to multiple sources saying that Trump often called privately for a moat inhabited by snakes and alligators to help fortify his long-sought wall at the southern border, Trump also suggested migrants be shot in the legs.
Officials told him that it was illegal.
According to a New York Times article adapted from the book, Trump:
"wanted the wall electrified, with spikes on top that could pierce human flesh. After publicly suggesting that soldiers shoot migrants if they threw rocks, the president backed off when his staff told him that was illegal. But later in a meeting, aides recalled, he suggested that they shoot migrants in the legs to slow them down. That's not allowed either, they told him."
Trump denied "the fact" that he ever wanted a moat or flesh-piercing spikes at the top of the wall, as the book also claims, but he was oddly silent on the allegations that he wanted migrants crossing the border shot.
A testament to the level of American political discourse in 2019, it's not out of the imagination that the President would endorse shooting immigrants.
At a rally this past May, Trump mused about what should be done about the so-called flood of undocumented immigrants crossing the southern border.
"Shoot them," one supporter yelled.
Where better Presidents would have immediately rebuked the comment and reminded Americans that the United States was built to be a haven for immigrants, Trump simply laughed and said, "That's only in the Panhandle can you get away with that stuff!"
Watch below.
Even for Trump, the needless cruelty was shocking.
Not to mention, what would happen after? Would the U.S. facilitate their healthcare? Or did Donald think they'd just be left in the desert?
Border Wars: Inside Trump's Assault on Immigration is available for pre-order here.
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