Trump video shows Dems' 'hypocrisy' on border wall

Let’s not do a shutdown, Democrats - do what’s right for the American People! pic.twitter.com/bZg07ZKQqo

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2018

President Trump has distributed a video via Twitter in which he calls Democratic Party leaders "absolute hypocrites" in their current opposition to a border wall.

In the brief video Thursday, Trump introduces clips of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and then-Sen. Barack Obama condemning illegal immigration. And two-time presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is shown boasting of her numerous votes for a border barrier.

"The fact is they've always supported fences and walls and partitions," Trump says. "But do you know what? They only don't want to do it because of me."

Trump says the Democrats must "put the people ahead of politics."

"We need to have the wall. We need border security," he says.

Schumer is seen declaring, "Illegal immigration is wrong, plain and simple."

Obama says, "We simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented, unchecked."

Clinton, at a campaign town hall, says, "I voted numerous times when I was a senator to spend money to build a barrier to try to prevent illegal immigrants from coming in."

At a meeting in the Oval Office on Tuesday in front of TV cameras, Trump, Pelosi and Schumer engaged in a contentious exchange over funding the border wall.

Tensions rose when Pelosi, who rejects Trump's request for $5 billion for the wall, warned of a "Trump shutdown" if Democrats and Republicans couldn't agree on a budget.

Trump said he would be "proud" to shut down the government for the sake of border security.

"If we don't get what we want," Trump said. "I will shut down the government."

When Pelosi argued Trump had the power to pass a budget — with Republicans in control of the White House and both chambers of Congress — the president pointed out that the legislation required 10 Senate Democrats to move to a final vote.

Pelosi said they came to the White House to negotiate a budget in "good faith," asking to keep the debate private.

"That's not bad, Nancy. It's called transparency," Trump said.

Schumer insisted the border wall "doesn't solve the problem."

"It totally solves the problem," Trump retorted.

Israel: Border walls work

The former mayor of a southern Israeli city said in an interview this week that when his country erected a high-tech wall on its southern border, illegal immigration was cut to zero.

In an interview Thursday morning with MSNBC, a Republican congressman said that more than 10 terrorists and 40 criminals try to enter the United States every day across the southern border, citing the Department of Homeland Security.

An independent report rebutted the Democrats' claim the $5 billion Trump wants to fund a border wall is a waste of money, showing the annual burden of illegal immigration on taxpayers is $155 billion.

The report by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, titled "The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on U.S. Taxpayers, breaks down the financial costs on top of the threats to national security and public safety.

The $155 billion figure does not take into account American jobs lost, commerce affected by remittances to Mexico, and the health crisis and deaths due to illegal drugs.