Donald Trump ‘suggested shooting migrants in the legs’
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US President Donald Trump suggested shooting migrants in the legs to slow them down, according to a new book.
The book – called ‘Border Wars: Inside Trump’s Assault on Immigration’ by reporters Michael Shear and Julie Davis, and based on interviews with more than a dozen unnamed officials – was published by the New York Times.
The book, by two New York Times journalists, says Trump suggested extreme methods of deterring migrants from crossing the southern border.
The book chronicles a week in March 2019 when Mr Trump reportedly tried to halt all southern migration to the US.
According to an excerpt, the president privately suggested to aides that soldiers shoot migrants in the legs, but he was told it would be illegal.
Previously, Trump had made a public statement suggesting soldiers shoot migrants who throw rocks.
In the book, it states Trump considered building an electrified, spiked border wall and a snake or alligator-infested moat.
Building a wall on the border with Mexico is one of Trump’s main policy objectives.
The construction of the wall has now begun, with the Pentagon allocating $3.6bn of military funding towards its development.
