Donald Trump on Sunday called for the United States to deport “people who invade” the country without any judicial proceedings.

“We cannot allow all of these people to invade our country,” the president tweeted. “When somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no judges or court cases, bring them back from where they came. Our system is a mockery to good immigration policy and law and order. Most children come without parents.”

Trump then tweeted that the US immigration policy was “laughed at all over the worked” and that it was unfair to those who had waited for years to get a citizenship. He said immigration must be solely based on merit. “We need people who will help to make America great again.”

Trump, however, did not differentiate between illegal immigrants and people who entered the US seeking asylum. It is also unclear if he was advocating an expansion of the provision that allows expedited removal of illegal immigrants at or near the US border, Reuters reported.

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Trump’s remarks on immigration come less than a week after he signed an executive order to keep families who illegally cross the US’ southern border together as they await immigration proceedings.

Trump also called for Democrats to address the immigration-related matters, and said that he was doing a “far better job” than former presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush. He said Democrats were resisting the Bill on Strong Border Security. “They want open borders and don’t care about crime!”

US immigration policy

In May, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a “zero tolerance” policy that allows authorities to file criminal charges against undocumented immigrants. This has led to nearly 2,000 children being separated from their parents in just six weeks.

The executive order followed widespread criticism of the Trump administration for its defence policy of separating children from their families when they are caught entering the US without documentation. Investigative news website ProPublica last week put out an audio recording of immigrant children from Central America crying inconsolably for their parents at a detention centre on the US-Mexico border.