President Trump grew frustrated with lawmakers
Thursday in the Oval Office when they discussed protecting immigrants
from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries as part of a bipartisan
immigration deal, according to several people briefed on the meeting.
"Why
are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?"
Trump said, according to these people, referring to countries mentioned
by the lawmakers.
Trump then suggested that the
United States should instead bring more people from countries such as
Norway, whose prime minister he met with Wednesday. The president,
according to a White House official, also suggested he would be open to
more immigrants from Asian countries because he felt that they help the
United States economically.
In addition, the
president singled out Haiti, telling lawmakers that immigrants from that
country must be left out of any deal, these people said.
"Why do we need more Haitians?" Trump said, according to people familiar with the meeting. "Take them out."
In
November, the Trump administration rescinded deportation protection
granted to nearly 60,000 Haitians after the 2010 earthquake and told
them to return home by July 2019.
Lawmakers were
taken aback by the comments, according to people familiar with their
reactions. Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard J. Durbin
(D-Ill.) had proposed cutting the visa lottery program by 50 percent and
then prioritizing countries already in the system, a White House
official said.
A White House spokesman defended
Trump's position on immigration without directly addressing his
remarks. White House officials did not dispute the account.
"Certain
Washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries, but
President Trump will always fight for the American people," spokesman
Raj Shah said in a statement issued after The Washington Post first
reported Trump's remarks. ". . . Like other nations that have
merit-based immigration, President Trump is fighting for permanent
solutions that make our country stronger by welcoming those who can
contribute to our society, grow our economy and assimilate into our
great nation."
Trump
built his candidacy and presidency around hard stances on immigration,
vowing to build a wall along the Mexican border and cut legal
immigration by half, among other positions. Officials at the Department
of Homeland Security have increased immigration raids, including dozens
this week at convenience stores across the country.
President Trump referred to
African nations and Haiti as "shithole" countries on Jan. 11. Here are
other nations he has insulted.
Trump's comments Thursday also put
further scrutiny on his long-standing tendency to make racially charged
remarks — including attacks on protesting black athletes and his claim
that there were fine people "on both sides" after neo-Nazis rioted in
Charlottesville, Va. Trump falsely claimed for years that Barack Obama
was not born in the United States and took out advertisements calling
for the death penalty for members of the Central Park Five — four black
youths and a Hispanic youth who were accused of a brutal rape in New
York and later exonerated.
The president's
remarks were quickly met with scorn from Democrats and some Republicans
and could throw another wrench into bipartisan discussions on
immigration, which had shown promise in recent days, according to
legislators.
Rep.
Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.) said the comments "will shake the confidence
that people have" in the ongoing immigration policy talks.
"Democrats
and Republicans in the Senate made a proposal. The answer is this
racist outburst of the president. How can you take him seriously?"
Gutiérrez said. "They [Republicans] don't believe in immigration — it's
always been about people of color and keeping them out of this country."
Rep. Cedric L. Richmond (D-La.), chairman of
the Congressional Black Caucus, said on Twitter that Trump's remarks
"are further proof that his Make America Great Again Agenda is really a
Make America White Again agenda."
Some
Republicans also raised objections. Rep. Mia Love (R-Utah), whose family
is from Haiti, said in a statement that Trump's remarks were "unkind,
divisive, elitist, and fly in the face of our nation's values. This
behavior is unacceptable from the leader of our nation."
"My
grandmother used to say, 'Digame con quién caminas, y te diré quién
eres.' 'Tell me who you walk with, and I'll tell you who you are,' "
said Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), who represents most of Harlem and
is an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of
Hispaniola with Haiti. "If he's walking around with white supremacists
and supporting them, this kind of talk doesn't surprise me."
The New York Times also reported last year that Trump said immigrants from Haiti have AIDS. The White House denied that report.
In
a statement condemning Thursday's remarks by Trump, Haiti's ambassador
to the United States, Paul G. Altidor, said that "the president was
either misinformed or miseducated about Haiti and its people." He said
the Haitian Embassy was inundated with emails from Americans apologizing
for what the president said.
Democrats were
quick to note that Trump employs Haitians at his Mar-a-Lago resort in
Florida and that he praised Haitian Americans during a roundtable in
Miami in September.
"Whether you vote for me
or don't vote for me, I really want to be your greatest champion, and I
will be your champion," Trump said at the roundtable.
Alix
Desulme, a city council member in North Miami, home to thousands of
Haitian Americans, said the president's latest remarks were
"disgusting."
"Oh, my God. Oh, my God Jesus," Desulme said. "I don't know how much worse it can get."
"This
is very alarming. We know he's not presidential, but this is a low," he
said. "It's disheartening that someone who is the leader of the free
world would use such demeaning language to talk about other folks,
referring to folks of color."
Trump's critics also said racially incendiary language could damage relationships with foreign allies.
For
many of Trump's supporters, however, the comments may not prove to be
particularly damaging. Trump came under fire from conservatives this
week for seeming to suggest that he would be open to a comprehensive
immigration reform deal without money for a border wall, before he
quickly backtracked.
"He's trying to win me
back," conservative author Ann Coulter, who has called for harsh limits
on immigration, wrote on Twitter.
Outlining a
potential bipartisan deal, the lawmakers discussed restoring protections
for countries that have been removed from the temporary protected
status (TPS) program while committing $1.5 billion for a border wall and
making changes to the visa lottery system. Lawmakers mentioned that
members of the Congressional Black Caucus had requested that some
African countries be included in a deal, according to a White House
official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private
conversation.
The exchange was "salty" on all
sides, this person said, with the president growing profane and animated
while discussing immigrants from other countries. "It did not go well,"
this person said.
The
administration announced this week that it was removing TPS status for
citizens of El Salvador. Haitians were added to the TPS program because
of a strong earthquake that devastated Haiti eight years ago.
Trump
had seemed amenable to a deal earlier in the day during phone calls
with lawmakers, aides said, but shifted his position in the meeting and
did not seem interested in the bipartisan compromise.
The
scene played out hurriedly in the morning. Graham and Durbin thought
they would be meeting with Trump alone and were surprised to find
immigration hard-liners such as Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Sen. Tom
Cotton (R-Ark.) at the meeting. White House and Capitol Hill aides say
Stephen Miller, the president's top immigration official, was concerned
there could be a deal proposed that was too liberal and made sure
conservative lawmakers were present.
After the
meeting, Marc Short, Trump's director of legislative affairs, said the
White House was nowhere near a bipartisan agreement on immigration.
"We
still think we can get there," White House press secretary Sarah
Huckabee Sanders said at the daily White House news briefing.
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