Close the border and shoot: what measures does Trump go for immigrants?

US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to close the border with Mexico, disrupting trade between countries, the amount of which is 1,68 billion dollars a day, if the government can not control the flow of illegal immigrants trying to get to the US from Latin America, writes "Voice of America".

Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where the president is celebrating Thanksgiving Day, Trump also confirmed the statement by Defense Secretary James Mattis that military personnel stationed on the Mexican border are allowed to shoot to kill in order to protect border officials from migrants .

Earlier on Thursday, the president made a conference call on an appeal to American servicemen in Asia and the Pacific, against the background of criticism that he had never visited the military in combat sites since the inauguration.

Around 5800, US troops spend Thanksgiving Day on the border with Mexico, straining barbed wire and building tent camps. The deployment of troops on the border caused controversy about a possible violation of the law 130-year-old, prohibiting the involvement of military personnel in law enforcement activities in the country.

Trump, referring to the issue of a caravan of migrants from Central America who began arriving at the border to seek asylum in the United States, said his administration could “close the entrance to the country for a long period” if the situation “reaches the level at which we lose control or people will start to suffer. ”

“The whole border. I mean the whole border. Mexico will not be able to sell their cars in the United States, ”the president stressed.

According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, last year trade between the United States and Mexico amounted to 615,9 billion, or about 1,68 billion per day.

Trump also confirmed that soldiers at the border are allowed to use force if necessary, as Mattis said on Wednesday.

Earlier media reports citing the mission commander reported that some military can already this week to return home, and the operation is scheduled for completion by mid-December. However, apparently, instead of winding down the mission, the administration is activating it.

Recall that earlier the federal judge temporarily blocked decree President Donald Trump, prohibiting the granting of asylum to immigrants who illegally arrived in the country from Mexico.