Donald Trump wanted soldiers to shoot illegal migrants, fortify border wall with alligator-filled moats: NYT

United States president Donald Trump, in a bid to stop illegal immigration, mulled fortifying a border wall with a water-filled trench, stocked with snakes or alligators, according to a media report. The New York Times reported that Trump wanted the border wall with Mexico electrified, with spikes on top that could pierce human flesh, prompting aides to seek a cost estimate. He also reportedly suggested allowing soldiers to shoot illegal migrants only to be told by his staff that using deadly force was not permitted. However, he later suggested shooting migrants in the legs to “slow them down”. That’s not allowed either, they told him, as per the report. Trump denied rejected the allegations on Twitter: Now the press is trying to sell the fact that I wanted a Moat stuffed with alligators and snakes, with an electrified fence and sharp spikes on top, at our Southern Border. I may be tough on Border Security, but not that tough. The press has gone Crazy. Fake News!

Now the press is trying to sell the fact that I wanted a Moat stuffed with alligators and snakes, with an electrified fence and sharp spikes on top, at our Southern Border. I may be tough on Border Security, but not that tough. The press has gone Crazy. Fake News!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2019

Trump has made a clampdown on both illegal and legal immigration one of the keystones of his nationalist “America first” presidency. In July, he said that mass deportation roundups would begin “fairly soon” as US migrant advocates vowed their communities would be “ready” when immigration officers come. “They’ll be starting fairly soon, but I don’t call them raids, we’re removing people, all of these people who have come in over the years illegally,” he had told reporters at the White House. Undocumented crossings over the Mexican border have dropped sharply. With inputs from agencies