(Washington, D.C.) The Trump administration reportedly instructed its diplomats abroad last week to lobby host governments to express concern about pro-immigrant policies and violent crimes against immigrant communities.
Reuters reports that the U.S. State Department sent a cable last Friday (November 21) to dozens of embassies in Europe, Canada, and Australia. The cable stated that crimes and human rights abuses related to mass migration are a major concern for European and Western countries, threatening public safety and social cohesion worldwide.
The telegram instructed U.S. missions abroad to report such crimes and human rights abuses to Washington, analyze host country responses, and call on governments to reform immigration policies and restrict any programs that could facilitate large-scale immigration.
In response to the reports, a State Department spokesperson said that large-scale immigration is a human rights issue and often leads to increased violent crime rates. However, the spokesperson did not provide any data to support this claim.
The cable also quoted Trump as saying that a country without borders is not a country. The cable called on governments to resist actions that favor immigrant groups at the expense of local communities.
Anti-immigration was a major theme of Trump's presidential campaign. After taking office, he implemented a hardline approach to law enforcement, deployed additional troops to the southern border, and pledged to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. Trump has repeatedly accused illegal immigrants of fueling violent crime; however, research shows that immigrants are not more likely to commit crimes than American citizens. In addition to domestic efforts, in September of this year, senior Trump administration officials urged other countries to join a global movement to reduce asylum for refugees.