WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump says there's only one person in charge of his immigration policy: him.
Asked by reporters Wednesday whether he had considered tapping his aide, Stephen Miller, to lead the Department of Homeland Security given Miller's focus on the issue, Trump was ready with praise -- but not a promotion.
"Stephen is an excellent guy. He's a wonderful person. ... He's a brilliant man," Trump said as he departed for Texas. But "frankly, there's only one person that's running it," Trump said. "You know who that is? It's me."
Trump on Sunday announced that Kevin McAleenan, the commissioner of United States Customs and Border Protection, would be taking over as acting Homeland Security Department secretary in the wake of Kirstjen Nielsen's sudden departure.
Asked whether he was considering nominating McAleenan as his permanent secretary, Trump said, "Could happen."
"We have others, but right now he's the man," said Trump.
Trump continued his focus on immigration during his Texas visit, where he attended a pre-fundraiser roundtable with supporters in San Antonio.
During the session, Trump announced he would be directing additional members of the military to the border and contended that residents of border states are living in tremendous danger and that nobody has any idea how bad the problem is.
Some ranchers, he said, had told him they were finding scores of dead bodies on their land.
"They're dying on their fields, all over," he said. "They go over, they find bodies lying over the field, including many pregnant women. Many pregnant women. They give it a little water, go out and start walking. Walk to Dallas and Dallas is 250 miles away."
The comments came a day after Trump said he was not looking to revive the much-criticized practice of separating migrant children from their families at the southern border amid bipartisan pushback to his shake-up at Homeland Security. At the same time, he suggested the policy had worked to deter migrants from coming into the U.S.
Last summer, the administration separated more than 2,500 children from their families before Trump halted the practice and a judge ordered them reunited.
Meanwhile, Democrats are honing proposals to address the surge of families entering the U.S. at the southern border, a problem they say Trump's restrictive immigration policies are inflaming.
House Democrats plan to introduce legislation soon addressing the recent waves of Central American migrants reaching the border. Senate Democrats are pursuing multiple tracks, including exploring whether talks with the White House might be feasible.
The House measure, described by lawmakers, aides and lobbyists, would stand virtually no chance of winning approval by the Republican-led Senate.
The bill, which participants said is still being finalized, is expected to increase federal resources at border entry points for processing refugees, counseling children and treating people needing medical care.
It would create centers in Central America where asylum applications could be processed and provide aid to reduce poverty and violence in the region so fewer people would flee.
"You don't just wait for people to show up at the border. It's the worst way to deal with it," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who's working on the legislation with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and party leaders.
They say Trump has exacerbated the situation by detaining migrants caught entering the U.S. illegally and slowing the processing of asylum seekers, which can take months or years.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, said she plans to introduce a bill that would beef up immigration courts to reduce a huge backlog of cases and prohibit separations of migrant families. The measure would face an uphill climb.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Democrats were in early discussions about what legislation to craft and were trying to arrange meetings with the White House on the issue. But he cautioned that last year's collapse of immigration talks with Trump did not bode well.
"This president is not an easy person to work with on this subject," said Durbin, Senate Democrats' No. 2 leader.
Democrats contend that Trump's goal is to rile up his conservative voters as his 2020 re-election campaign gets underway.
"He's shown that over and over, he's just anti-immigrant. And this is a campaign talking point for him," said Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Calif.
Republicans say Democrats are simply out to block Trump.
"They don't want to give Trump any victory on anything, ever," said Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., a member of the House Homeland Security Committee.
Information for this article was contributed by Kevin Freking, Lisa Mascaro, Laurie Kellman, Alan Fram, Darlene Superville and Nomaan Merchant of The Associated Press.
A Section on 04/11/2019