President Donald Trump turned his Twitter torment Monday on the Democrat in the room where immigration talks with lawmakers took a famously coarse turn, saying Sen. Dick Durbin misrepresented what he had said about African nations and Haiti and, in the process, undermined the trust needed to make a deal.
President Donald Trump with first lady Melania Trump waves as he returns to the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 15, 2018. Trump spent the holiday weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
On a day of remembrance for Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Trump spent time at his golf course with no public events, bypassing the acts of service that his predecessor staged in honor of the civil rights leader on the holiday. Instead, Trump dedicated his weekly address to King's memory, saying King's dream and America's are the same: "a world where people are judged by who they are, not how they look or where they come from."
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President Donald Trump turned his Twitter torment Monday on the Democrat in the room where immigration talks with lawmakers took a famously coarse turn, saying Sen. Dick Durbin misrepresented what he had said about African nations and Haiti and, in the process, undermined the trust needed to make a deal.
On a day of remembrance for Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Trump spent time at his golf course with no public events, bypassing the acts of service that his predecessor staged in honor of the civil rights leader on the holiday. Instead, Trump dedicated his weekly address to King's memory, saying King's dream and America's are the same: "a world where people are judged by who they are, not how they look or where they come from."
That message was a distinct counterpoint to words attributed to Trump by Durbin and others at a meeting last week, when the question of where immigrants come from seemed at the forefront of Trump's concerns. Some participants and others familiar with the conversation said Trump challenged immigration from "shithole" countries of Africa and disparaged Haiti as well.
"Senator Dicky Durbin totally misrepresented what was said at the DACA meeting," Trump tweeted, using a nickname to needle the Illinois senator. "Deals can't get made when there is no trust! Durbin blew DACA and is hurting our Military."
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of the six senators in the meeting with Trump on Thursday, supported Durbin's account. As well, Durbin and people who were briefed on the conversation but were not authorized to describe it publicly said Trump also questioned the need to admit more Haitians. They said Trump expressed a preference for immigrants from countries like Norway, which is overwhelmingly white.
A woman tears up during a rally against racism in opposition to President Donald Trump's recent disparaging comments about Haiti and African nations in Times Square in New York, on Monday, Jan. 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
That message was a distinct counterpoint to words attributed to Trump by Durbin and others at a meeting last week, when the question of where immigrants come from seemed at the forefront of Trump's concerns. Some participants and others familiar with the conversation said Trump challenged immigration from "shithole" countries of Africa and disparaged Haiti as well.
Without explicitly denying using that word, Trump lashed out at the Democratic senator, who said Trump uttered it on several occasions.
A woman shouts during a rally against racism in opposition to President Donald Trump's recent disparaging comments about Haiti and African nations in Times Square in New York, on Monday, Jan. 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
"Senator Dicky Durbin totally misrepresented what was said at the DACA meeting," Trump tweeted, using a nickname to needle the Illinois senator. "Deals can't get made when there is no trust! Durbin blew DACA and is hurting our Military."
He was referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects young people who came to the U.S. illegally as children. Members of Congress from both parties are trying to strike a deal that Trump would support to extend that protection.
Durbin said Monday the White House should release whatever recording it might have of the meeting.
Haitian community members protest near President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Damon Higgins/Palm Beach Post via AP)
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of the six senators in the meeting with Trump on Thursday, supported Durbin's account. As well, Durbin and people who were briefed on the conversation but were not authorized to describe it publicly said Trump also questioned the need to admit more Haitians. They said Trump expressed a preference for immigrants from countries like Norway, which is overwhelmingly white.
Republican Sens. David Perdue of Georgia and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who also attended, initially said they did not hear Trump utter the word in question, then revised their account to deny he said it at all. Trump said Sunday: "I'm not a racist."
Haitian community members hold an image depicting image shows from left, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and President Donald Trump during a protest near Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Damon Higgins/Palm Beach Post via AP)
Durbin addressed reports that Trump might have said countries of Africa were "shithouse" nations instead of "shithole" ones — and that such a distinction might have given Trump's defenders a narrow out to dispute reports of the meeting.
"I am stunned that this is their defense," he told WBEZ. "I don't know that changing the word from 'hole' to 'house' changes the impact."
The reverberations kept coming Monday.
Martin Luther King III, King's elder son, said: "When a president insists that our nation needs more citizens from white states like Norway, I don't even think we need to spend any time even talking about what it says and what it is."
He added, "We got to find a way to work on this man's heart."
A sizeable crowd of expatriate Haitians, waving their country's flag, gathered near the foot of a bridge leading to Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, to jeer at Trump as the motorcade returned from the golf club where the president capped his weekend before returning later Monday to Washington.
The Haitians and their supporters shouted, "Our country is not a shithole," according to video posted by WPEC-TV, and engaged in a shouting match with the pro-Trump demonstrators who typically gather on the other side of the street.
On Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence, who worshipped at a Baptist church in Maryland, listened as the pastor denounced Trump's use of vulgarity.
Maurice Watson, pastor of Metropolitan Baptist Church in Largo, called the reported remark "dehumanizing" and "ugly" and said "whoever made such a statement ... is wrong and they ought to be held accountable." Worshippers stood and applauded as Watson spoke.
Durbin said after the Oval Office meeting that Trump's words to the senators were "vile, hate-filled and clearly racial in their content."
A confidant of Trump told The Associated Press that the president spent Thursday evening calling friends and outside advisers to judge their reaction to his remarks. Trump wasn't apologetic and denied he was racist, said the confidant, who wasn't authorized to disclose a private conversation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Afterward Trump insisted in a tweet that he "never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said 'take them out.' Made up by Dems." Trump wrote, "I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians.
The contentious comments came as Durbin was presenting details of a compromise immigration plan that had money for a first installment of the president's long-sought border wall.
Trump took particular issue with the idea that people who'd fled to the U.S. after disasters hit their homes in places such as El Salvador, Guatemala and Haiti would be allowed to stay as part of the deal, according to the people briefed on the conversation.
When it came to talk of extending protections for Haitians, Durbin said Trump replied, "We don't need more Haitians.'"
"He said, 'Put me down for wanting more Europeans to come to this country. Why don't we get more people from Norway?'" Durbin said.
Word of Trump's comments threatened to upend delicate negotiations over resolving the status of the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children. Trump announced last year that he will end the Obama-era program unless lawmakers come up with a solution by March.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A church volunteer stood at an apartment door, beckoning inside a Congolese family for their first look at where they would live in America.
“Your new house!” volunteer Dan Davidson exclaimed as the couple and the woman's brother stepped into the two-bedroom apartment in South Carolina's capital, smiling tentatively at what would come next.
Inside, church volunteers had made quilts for the beds and set out an orange and yellow plastic dump truck and other toys for the couple's son. The family watched closely as a translator showed them key features in their apartment: which knob matched which burner on the stovetop, how the garbage disposal and window blinds worked. They practiced working the thermostat and checked the water in the shower.
“We are so happy to get this place,” Kaaskile Kashindi said through a translator.
Now 28, Kashindi was born in Congo and fled with his family at age 3 to a refugee camp in Tanzania, where he lived until this spring. That’s when he, his wife, little boy and brother-in-law moved to Columbia, a university town of 140,000 people.
“We’re still new. We just need help right now," Kashindi said.
Scenes like this are becoming more common as the American refugee program, long a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, rebounds from years of cutbacks under Donald Trump's administration. The Biden administration has worked to streamline the process of screening and placing people in America while refugee resettlement agencies have opened new sites across the country.
If President Joe Biden meets his target of 125,000 refugees admitted this year, it would be the highest number of arrivals in more than three decades.
Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee in a 2020 rematch with Biden this fall, has pledged to bar refugees from Gaza and reinstate his Muslim ban if elected, while also putting in place “ideological screening” for all immigrants. Trump's website highlights his first-term decision to temporarily suspend the refugee program.
Even with immigration — legal or not — a divisive campaign issue, many who help refugees settle in the United States say the growing numbers of refugees have been generally welcomed by communities and employers in need of workers.
The word refugee is sometimes broadly used to refer to anyone fleeing war or persecution. Often it's conflated with asylum-seekers who come directly to the U.S.-Mexico border. People like the family from Congo are coming through a different process, starting with an application abroad and with thorough vetting that can take years.
Usually they are referred to U.S. officials by the U.N. refugee agency, then interviewed by American immigration officials. There are background checks and medical screening.
The lucky few who are approved fly to towns across America to start new lives with the help of a nationwide network of resettlement agencies. They are eligible to become citizens eventually.
For decades, America led the world in refugee admissions in a program that had wide bipartisan support. Trump cut the program to the quick. By the time he left office in January 2021, he had set a record low goal of 15,000 refugees admitted a year. But even that mark wasn't hit: Only 11,814 refugees came to the U.S. in Trump's last year, compared with 84,994 at the end of the Obama administration.
Biden said he would reestablish the U.S. as a haven for refugees. It took a while.
His administration is now admitting more refugees and added about 150 new resettlement sites nationwide, said Sarah Cross, deputy assistant secretary for the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.
To reach a goal of 125,000 refugees admitted this year — the highest number since 1992 — the department has been increasing its overseas processing and making changes that streamline all the checks refugees undergo while keeping screening rigorous, Cross said. It has hired more staff and is doing more trips to interview prospective refugees overseas.
In 2020, Lutheran Services Carolinas resettled about 40 refugees in Columbia. This year, the organization expects to welcome about 440, said Seth Hershberger, the nonprofit’s refugee resettlement and immigration director. It has opened new sites in Charleston, Greenville and Myrtle Beach.
“It is chaotic sometimes," Hershberger said from the agency’s office, tucked into a Lutheran church. “But with the support we’ve had ... it’s been a good, good journey.”
The office is a bustle of case managers, employment specialists and other staffers; some were once refugees themselves. These staff and volunteers usually meet arriving refugees, making sure a meal they recognize is waiting for them.
From there, it's a whirlwind of medical appointments, registration at government offices, opening a bank account, enrolling kids in school and eventually moving into permanent housing such as the Kashindi family's apartment. They take classes in what is called “survival English” — how to call 911 if someone is sick, for example, or remembering your address so you can tell someone if you get lost.
In one recent class, five refugees sat at desks at a local church. Down the hall, a volunteer watched their kids so they could work on learning a new language.
The lesson was focused on calendars and days of the week, interspersed with a bit of American culture.
“In America, the calendar is very important. ... There’s a lot of dates you’ll need to know,” said teacher Sarah Lewis, such as their children’s birthdays, doctor’s appointments and much more.
Two students were sisters from Honduras who had fled their homes and traveled to Mexico, where they lived for about a year until they learned they had been approved to come to South Carolina.
Leliz Bonilla Castro said she didn't know much about Columbia when she arrived but she liked the warm weather and welcoming people. She said the refugee program had given her and her three children a future.
“For those who want and have the opportunity to come (to this country), it is the best way to save your life and to have a better future for your kids, which are the ones we think about the most as parents,” she said through a translator.
It wasn’t too long ago that South Carolina was one of many Republican-leaning states that balked at efforts to bring in Syrian refugees.
Hershberger, the Lutheran Services resettlement chief, pointed to another event — the U.S. evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans from Kabul during the 2021 troop withdrawal — as a game-changer. It led to an outpouring from Americans wanting to help.
“When they saw people grabbing onto the planes and fleeing for their lives, I think that really struck a chord with a lot of people,” he said.
The nonprofit also hears from employers eager for workers, Hershberger said.
One of them is Jordan Loewen, whose Columbia-based company cleans facilities or fleets like big garbage trucks. It’s “dirty, hard work,” he said.
During the pandemic when it was tough to find workers, someone suggested he hire refugees. Loewen gave it a shot, and now refugees account for nearly half his staff. He also recommends the resettlement program to other employers.
In addition to getting workers, he said, “It’s amazing hearing what these guys have come out of and the struggles that they’ve gone through in their life to get to this point of being in America."
Global Refuge, one of 10 national resettlement agencies that work with local networks like the one in Columbia, is preparing for what a Trump presidency might mean for its work.
“It’s a huge cloud. We feel like we may be running up against a cliff here," said Megan Bracy, the organization’s resettlement director.
Cross, from the State Department, said the focus is on the momentum in bringing more refugees and the nationwide support that's followed.
“It’s also a program that we see so many Americans eager to continue,” she said.
Congo refugee Aline Mugabekazi, left, with Lutheran Services Carolinas case manager Raja Alshuaibi, communicate with each other through an interpreter on the phone, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
Congo refugee Aline Mugabekazi, right, with Lutheran Services Carolinas case manager Raja Alshuaibi, retrieves her bag at the airport, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
Volunteer Cheryl Johnson donates boxes of food to Lutheran Services Carolinas, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
Lutheran Services Carolinas refugee settlement director Seth Hershberger, right, speaks to a staff member, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
Toys are seen inside the furnished new apartment of a family from Congo, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
Lutheran Services Carolinas outreach coordinator supervisor Sarah Lewis, center, teaches an English class for recently arrived refugees, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
Congo refugee Riziki Kashindi tours her new apartment, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
Refugees who recently arrived from Congo and Honduras participate in an English class, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
Congo refugees Riziki Kashindi, from left, and her brother Kaaskile Kashindi, receive an English lesson from Lutheran Services Carolinas employment specialist Yvonne Songolo and outreach coordinator supervisor Sarah Lewis, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
Leliz Bonilla Castro, left, and her sister Xochina Michelle Castro, refugees from Honduras, participate in an English class, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
Lutheran Services Carolinas employment specialist Yvonne Songolo, left, and volunteer David Tait, center, get ready to present a new apartment to a refugee family from Congo, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
Lutheran Services Carolinas employment specialist Yvonne Songolo, from left, gives Congo refugees Riziki Kashindi and her husband Sadock Ekyochi, a tour of their new apartment, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
Congo refugee Riziki Kashindi, left, receives a tour of her new apartment from Lutheran Services Carolinas employment specialist Yvonne Songolo, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
Refugees from Congo Sadock Ekyochi, from left, his wife Riziki Kashindi and her brother Kaaskile Kashindi pose for a photo inside their new apartment, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. The American refugee program, which long served as a haven for people fleeing violence around the world, is rebounding from years of dwindling arrivals under former President Donald Trump. The Biden administration has worked to restaff refugee resettlement agencies and streamline the process of vetting and placing people in America. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
