.At the Border

At the Border
According to the WASHINGTON EXAMINER, Kirstjen Nielsen has likened the immigration crisis at the southern border to a 'Cat 5 hurricane disaster'.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the Trump administration is treating immigration threats, such as repeat migrant caravans along the U.S.-Mexico border, as a "Cat 5 hurricane disaster."

"We are bringing all of the agencies together. We're asking everybody to chip in," Nielsen told Fox News Tuesday night, adding that DHS is looking at sending troops to the border and providing more military resources. "We have to stop the drugs. We have to stop the smuggling and trafficking gangs. He's very serious about it, so yes, I think everything is on the table," Nielsen said.

This week, President Trump threatened to close the border between the U.S. and Mexico and urged Mexico to help stop the flow of illegal immigration crossings.

"We're going to have a strong border, or we're going to have a closed border," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Further, on Tuesday, the Trump administration has asked courts to dismiss legal challenges to the border emergency declaration. The lawyers said the plaintiffs' arguments that the emergency is unconstitutional because it violates the separation of powers are invalid since "independent separation-of-powers concerns require dismissal of the President as a defendant because there is no cause of action against the President."

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are represented by the consumer rights group Public Citizen. The Trump administration on Tuesday also asked a judge to dismiss a similar lawsuit brought by the Center of Biological Diversity, according to Bloomberg News.

There are also several other lawsuits challenging the emergency, including one brought by attorneys general from 16 states. The legal challenges are likely the last roadblock to Trump's emergency declaration after the House last week failed to override Trump's veto of legislation disapproving of the declaration.