Trump prefers immigrants from Norway over 'shithole countries' like Haiti
In a crude moment seemingly borne in frustration over a bipartisan immigration deal, President Trump lashed out at the idea of restoring protections for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries.
“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” Trump said, referring to African countries and Haiti, according to The Washington Post. The president then suggested that immigrants from countries such as Norway would be preferred.
Trump’s comments came in response to a bipartisan collection of lawmakers moving forward to restore protections for countries that have been removed from the temporary protected status program while adding $1.5 billion for a border wall and making changes to the visa lottery system.
The Post continued:
The comments left lawmakers taken aback, according to people familiar with their reactions. Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) proposed cutting the visa lottery program by 50 percent and then prioritizing countries already in the system, a White House official said.
Trump had seemed amenable to a deal earlier in the day during phone calls, aides said, but shifted his position in the meeting and did not seem interested, The Post reported.
