"I would grant the Government's application to stay the injunction only to the extent that the injunction prevents the Government from finalizing the contracts or taking other preparatory administrative action," he wrote.
But this display of fecklessness was outdone by congressional Democrats, who voted at the end of June to grant Trump the $4.9 billion he requested to militarize the border and support plans for wall construction.
Also Friday, Trump forced the Guatemalan government to agree to a "safe third country" agreement whereby all immigrants crossing through Guatemala from the south will be barred from applying for asylum in the US and will be immediately deported to Guatemala. Since Guatemala spans from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea, this means a blanket ban for all Honduran and Salvadoran refugees.
Trump stood over the Guatemalan delegates as they signed the agreement in the White House. Before the ink dried, Guatemalan Interior Minister Enrique Antonio Degenhart thanked Trump and told him, "At your service, sir."
Opposition to Trump's attack on immigrants will not come from the Democratic Party or through the courts. On Monday, black and white residents of a working class neighborhood in Nashville, Tennessee formed a human chain around an immigrant family as ICE agents attempted to arrest them. This powerful event shows that the fight to defend immigrant workers and democratic rights must be waged by the working class.
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