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Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano asserted on Monday that President Donald Trump “cannot legally” shut down the southern U.S. border even though he has threatened to do so.
On Monday, Fox News host Sandra Smith reported that the U.S. Border Patrol had temporarily closed the San Ysidro port of entry in California on Sunday following Trump’s threat to shut down the border over a caravan of migrants who are seeking asylum.
“The big question is because we keep hearing this from the president, the threat to shut down the southern border permanently, can he do that?” Smith asked Napolitano.
“He cannot legally do it,” the former judge replied. “We know that because of federal statutes… They were last revised in 1986 when our relationship with migrants coming north was very different than it is now.”
“That’s the law as he finds it,” Napolitano continued. “That’s the law as he is required to enforce it. That’s the law that the federal judge in San Francisco that the president attempted to disparage by calling him an ‘Obama judge’ told him he had to enforce as well.”
Napolitano also noted that migrants “escaping a government pursuing you or escaping a government failing to enforce basic law and order” are legally allowed to enter the U.S.
“The president doesn’t want to hear this but it’s the law,” he said. “Anywhere you want. You are then to be brought in the U.S. Back to the port where you should have entered and processed there.”
On Monday, Fox News host Sandra Smith reported that the U.S. Border Patrol had temporarily closed the San Ysidro port of entry in California on Sunday following Trump’s threat to shut down the border over a caravan of migrants who are seeking asylum.
“The big question is because we keep hearing this from the president, the threat to shut down the southern border permanently, can he do that?” Smith asked Napolitano.
“He cannot legally do it,” the former judge replied. “We know that because of federal statutes… They were last revised in 1986 when our relationship with migrants coming north was very different than it is now.”
“That’s the law as he finds it,” Napolitano continued. “That’s the law as he is required to enforce it. That’s the law that the federal judge in San Francisco that the president attempted to disparage by calling him an ‘Obama judge’ told him he had to enforce as well.”
Napolitano also noted that migrants “escaping a government pursuing you or escaping a government failing to enforce basic law and order” are legally allowed to enter the U.S.
“The president doesn’t want to hear this but it’s the law,” he said. “Anywhere you want. You are then to be brought in the U.S. Back to the port where you should have entered and processed there.”