Following a horrific attack against Boulder, Colorado, protesters calling for the release of Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas, President Donald Trump is blaming the alleged act of terrorism on the immigration policies of the Biden administration.
“Yesterday’s horrific attack in Boulder, Colorado, WILL NOT BE TOLERATED in the United States of America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The president added that the suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, “came in through Biden’s ridiculous Open Border Policy, which has hurt our Country so badly. He must go out under ‘TRUMP’ Policy.’”
“Acts of Terrorism will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law,” the president added. “This is yet another example of why we must keep our Borders SECURE, and deport Illegal, Anti-American Radicals from our Homeland. My heart goes out to the victims of this terrible tragedy, and the Great People of Boulder, Colorado.”
Vice President J.D. Vance shared Trump’s response to the attack.
The Department of Homeland Security has said that Soliman — an Egyptian citizen — was in the United States unlawfully, but he did not cross the border without documentation. According to DHS, Soliman overstayed a tourist visa that expired in 2023. He applied for asylum status in September 2022, the year before his visa expired, and was granted a work authorization in 2023. DHS did not specify the outcome of Soliman’s asylum application.
Soliman, who injured eight protesters using molotov cocktails and improvised incendiary weapons while yelling “Free Palestine,” has already been indicted on federal hate crimes charges. Additional charges of first-degree murder (no fatalities have been confirmed by law enforcement,) assault, and weapons crimes have also been filed, and the attack is being investigated as an act of terrorism.
While Soliman originally entered the country legally, his immigration status has become a focal point for the White House.
On Monday, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller wrote on X that “a terror attack was committed in Boulder, Colorado by an illegal alien,” who “was granted a tourist visa by the Biden Administration and then he illegally overstayed that visa. In response, the Biden Administration gave him a work permit.”
“Suicidal migration must be fully reversed,” Miller added.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Monday that the Biden administration “foolishly gave [Soliman] a tourist visa and allowed him to unlawfully remain in our country. This individual should have been deported. Instead he was welcomed here.”
Leavitt suggested to Fox News that the attack took place because the Biden administration “had no vetting process” for immigrants. “The Biden administration was allowing illegal aliens from all over the world to come into our country illegally, unvented, untested,” she added.
As of Monday, DHS and other law enforcement agencies have not produced information indicating that Soliman had a criminal record. Some B2 visas can last for years, and it’s unclear precisely when and under what administration Soliman’s visa was issued.
The Trump administration regularly attempts to deflect blame for the president’s own stumbles — or reframe major news stories — onto the Biden administration. In recent months, Trump has claimed that economic uncertainty over his misguided tariff policy is the fault of his predecessor, as is Russia’s war against Ukraine, as is every other stumble and sticking point in his presidency. In this case, Trump is using misinformation about a horrific attack and the specter of Biden-era immigration policies to further demonize immigrant communities, and continue his crackdown on not just undocumented, but lawful immigration practices as well.
www.rollingstone.com
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