President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to take "harsh measures" if congressional Democrats do not take action against immigration loopholes.
Trump tweeted Tuesday morning:
"Democrats in Congress must vote to close the terrible loopholes at the Southern Border. If not, harsh measures will have to be taken!"
The White House has requested billions in emergency funds from Congress to stop migrants from entering the country at the U.S.-Mexico border. However, Democrats in control of the House are reluctant to agree.
"So you create chaos, and then ask for more money?" Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., the vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus, told Politico, referring to the White House.
"Not that we're trying to validate or not validate [Trump's claims], there are a lot of people there at the border," said Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, whose district lies on the border with Mexico. "I don't call it a security crisis, I call it a humanitarian crisis. So, the question is how do we get to address that?"
Presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway told "Fox & Friends" that same morning that Republican legislators will meet with Trump at the White House on Tuesday to discuss his immigration plans. In her remarks, Conway also criticized Democrats in Congress.
"They have to stop pretending they want to reform the immigration laws," she said. "If they're serious about immigration reform they should come to the table and fix something."