04.09.2019

Richard Clarke on America’s Safety Under President Trump

As President Trump ousts top White House officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen who implemented some of President Trump’s most brutal immigration policies, former U.S. coordinator for security and counterterrorism Richard Clarke discusses the impact on America’s safety.

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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: What do you make, Richard Clarke, of the president firing all these people on the sort of security area, the Department of Homeland Security? What impact does that have on basic security?

RICHARD CLARKE, FORMER U.S. COORDINATOR FOR SECURITY AND COUNTERTERRORISM: Well, the president had a temper tantrum because all of his desired solutions to the border problem of asylum seekers turned out to be illegal. And when he instructs the secretary of Homeland Security or individual officers at the border to do things that are illegal, they refuse to do them, which is actually quite commendable. But the president doesn’t have a process for getting a solution that works. And when people say, “You can’t do that because it’s illegal,” or the courts say, “You can’t do that because it’s illegal,” he doesn’t know what to do. And so, he has his temper tantrum and he fires people. That makes it even harder for the Department to deal with the problem that does exist on the border.

AMANPOUR: Let’s talk about the problem that does exist and the issues that Kirstjen Nielsen was pushing back against because of their questionable legality. So, tell me what issues particularly are not allowed and what is the real problem at the border?

CLARKE: Well, the law says, and it’s very clear, the law says that if someone from Central America comes to the border or illegally crosses the border and comes into the United States, and then says to a DHS official, “I am seeking asylum,” they have to be allowed into the United States until their asylum claim can be adjudicated, and the president doesn’t like that. He’d like to stop them from coming in. He’d like to force them to sit in Mexico and wait for their hearing date. But the law says otherwise. Rather than going to Congress and trying to strike a bargain and change the law, he’s been telling DHS to ignore it and the courts have ordered DHS to obey the law. And we had the extraordinary scene the other day of the president himself going to the border, talking to individual DHS Homeland Security agents at the border and instructing them to disobey the law.

AMANPOUR: Well, as if from your ear to my soundbite, let us play this soundbite from the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: It’s a colossal surge and it’s overwhelming our immigration system, and we can’t let that happen. So, as I say, and this is our new statement, the system is full. Can’t take you anymore. Whether it’s asylum, whether it’s anything you want, it’s illegal immigration, can’t take you anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

About This Episode EXPAND

As clashes and unrest roil North Africa, former British Ambassador to Libya Peter Millett and New York Times Correspondent David Kirkpatrick discuss the turmoil in the region. Former U.S. coordinator for security and counterterrorism Richard Clarke discusses America’s safety. Hari talks the impact of climate change on our mountains and glaciers, with David Breashears, a veteran mountaineer.

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