-My fellow Americans, tonight, I am speaking to you
because there is a growing humanitarian and security crisis
at our southern border.
Every day customs and border patrol agents
encounter thousands of illegal immigrants
trying to enter our country.
We are out of space to hold them,
and we have no way to promptly return them back home
to their country.
America proudly welcomes millions of lawful immigrants
who enrich our society and contribute to our nation.
But all Americans are hurt
by uncontrolled illegal migration.
It strains public resources and drives down jobs and wages.
Among those hardest hit are African-Americans
and Hispanic Americans.
Our southern border is a pipeline
for vast quantities of illegal drugs,
including meth, heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl.
Every week 300 of our citizens are killed by heroin alone,
90% of which floods across from our southern border.
More Americans will die from drugs this year
than were killed in the entire Vietnam War.
In the last two years, ICE officers made 266,000
arrests of aliens with criminal records,
including those charged or convicted of 100,000 assaults,
30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 violent killings.
Over the years, thousands of Americans
have been brutally killed
by those who illegally entered our country,
and thousands more lives will be lost if we don't act right now.
This is a humanitarian crisis --
a crisis of the heart and a crisis of the soul.
Last month, 20,000 migrant children
were illegally brought into the united States,
a dramatic increase.
These children are used as human pawns
by vicious coyotes and ruthless gangs.
One in three women are sexually assaulted
on the dangerous trek up through Mexico.
Women and children are the biggest victims
by far of our broken system.
This is the tragic reality of illegal immigration
on our southern border.
This is the cycle of human suffering
that I am determined to end.
My administration has presented Congress
with a detailed proposal
to secure the border and stop the criminal gangs,
drug smugglers, and human traffickers.
It's a tremendous problem.
Our proposal was developed by law enforcement professionals
and border agents at the Department of Homeland Security.
These are the resources they have requested to properly
perform their mission and keep America safe.
In fact, safer than ever before.
The proposal from Homeland Security
includes cutting-edge technology for detecting drugs,
weapons, illegal contraband, and many other things.
We have requested more agents, immigration judges,
and bed space to process the sharp rise in unlawful migration
fueled by our very strong economy.
Our plan also contains an urgent request
for humanitarian assistance and medical support.
Furthermore, we have asked Congress
to close border security loopholes
so that illegal immigrant children
can be safely and humanely returned back home.
Finally, as part of an overall approach to border security,
law enforcement professionals have requested $5.
7 billion for a physical barrier.
At the request of Democrats, it will be a steel barrier
rather than a concrete wall.
This barrier is absolutely critical to border security.
It's also what our professionals at the border want and need.
This is just common sense.
The border wall would very quickly pay for itself.
The cost of illegal drugs exceeds $500 billion a year --
vastly more than the $5.
7 billion we have requested from Congress.
The wall will always be paid for indirectly
by the great new trade deal we have made with Mexico.
Senator Chuck Schumer,
who you will be hearing from later tonight,
has repeatedly supported a physical barrier in the past
along with many other Democrats.
They changed their mind only after I was elected president.
Democrats in Congress have refused
to acknowledge the crisis.
And they have refused to provide our brave border agents
with the tools they desperately need
to protect our families and our nation.
The federal government remains shut down for one reason
and one reason only --
because Democrats will not fund border security.
My administration is doing everything in our power
to help those impacted by the situation.
But the only solution is for Democrats
to pass a spending bill
that defends our borders and re-opens the government.
This situation could be solved in a 45-minute meeting.
I have invited congressional leadership
to the White House tomorrow to get this done.
Hopefully, we can rise above partisan politics
in order to support national security.
Some have suggested a barrier is immoral.
Then why do wealthy politicians build walls, fences,
and gates around their homes?
They don't build walls
because they hate the people on the outside,
but because they love the people on the inside.
The only thing that is immoral
is for the politicians to do nothing
and continue to allow more innocent people to be
so horribly victimized.
America's heart broke the day after Christmas
when a young police officer in California
was savagely murdered in cold blood
by an illegal alien who just came across the border.
The life of an American hero was stolen by someone
who had no right to be in our country.
Day after day, precious lives are cut short
by those who have violated our borders.
In California, an Air Force veteran was raped, murdered,
and beaten to death with a hammer by an illegal alien
with a long criminal history.
In Georgia, an illegal alien was recently charged with murder
for killing, beheading, and dismembering his neighbor.
In Maryland, MS-13 gang members who arrived in the United States
as unaccompanied minors were arrested and charged last year
after viciously stabbing and beating a 16-year-old girl.
Over the last several years,
I have met with dozens of families
whose loved ones were stolen by illegal immigration.
I've held the hands of the weeping mothers
and embraced the grief-stricken fathers.
So sad.
So terrible.
I will never forget the pain in their eyes,
the tremble in their voices,
and the sadness gripping their souls.
How much more American blood must we shed
before Congress does its job?
For those who refuse to compromise in the name of
in the name of border security,
I would ask, imagine if it was your child,
your husband, or your wife whose life
was so cruelly shattered and totally broken.
To every member of Congress,
pass a bill that ends this crisis.
To every citizen, call Congress and tell them to finally,
after all of these decades, secure our border.
This is a choice between right and wrong,
justice and injustice.
This is about whether we fulfill our sacred duty
to the American citizens we serve.
When I took the oath of office, I swore to protect our country.
And that is what I will always do, so help me God.
Thank you and good night.