Carlos Barria/Reuters
President Trump has declared that he is “willing to shut down” the government if Democratic lawmakers don’t cave in to Republican demands for border security. Trump made the announcement on Twitter early Sunday, explaining the move by saying, “We need great people coming into our country.” “Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT,” he wrote. The president’s demands come after House Republicans released a spending bill earlier this month that calls for $5 billion to go towards Trump’s wall, a provision opposed by some Democrats. Earlier Sunday, Trump also responded to criticism over the hundreds of family separations that resulted from his “zero-tolerance” border policies, claiming “many” of the immigrants illegally crossing the border are “using children for their own sinister purposes.”