President Donald Trump and his administration are using scenes from the Spanish territory of Ceuta to warn that the tidal wave of illegal immigrants surging across the border could be the United States if Democrats are reelected.
Ceuta, which borders Morocco on the northern coast of Africa, has been deluged with approximately 60,000 illegal immigrants in just 24 hours after mobs tore down fences and swam around the border and into the Spanish enclave. Photos and videos show an army’s worth of migrants — mostly young men — participating in the invasion as authorities scramble to deport the foreign nationals.
“It’s terrible. Remember that picture. That’s going to be us in three years if the wrong side gets in,” Trump said in an interview Friday. “If the Democrats get in, you will not live a very good life.”
“It looks like an invasion of a country,” he later added at a Cabinet meeting the same day. “And that same thing is going to happen to us if the Republicans don’t get elected — except worse … If we’re not in office, our country will be invaded at levels that make Spain look small time.”
Vice President JD Vance said on social media, saying: “Thank God [that Trump] was elected and our country’s border no longer looks like this. These images out of Spain are an unfortunate reminder of the consequences of mass migration and the radical left-wing globalist policies that have enabled the Invasion of the West.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, an avowed socialist who has penned op-eds in U.S. publications about how the “West needs migrants,” traveled to the African coastal area to monitor the situation — joined by the minister of the interior.
Madrid deployed armed forces yesterday to aid local officers in quelling the invasion, promising to “expedite the repatriation files of the migrants who arrived irregularly.”
“The Government will guarantee the safety of the residents of Ceuta, intensifying the presence of the Security Forces and Corps on the city’s streets,” Sanchez said on social media on Friday. “Additionally, we will deploy a physical containment barrier in the sea to facilitate repatriation at the border, in compliance with the Supreme Court ruling.”
The Spanish government is claiming that 25,000 foreign nationals have been ousted from Ceuta thus far, but hard numbers on inflow and outflow of migrants are impossible to determine — the borders remain compromised despite efforts from Moroccan and Spanish authorities.
The U.S. State Department issued a statement in which it decried the situation as an “egregious violation of [Spain and Europe’s] sovereignty and human rights,” pinning the blame directly on Sanchez’s government.
“This unacceptable incident is the direct result of the Spanish Government’s deliberate efforts to enable and facilitate mass illegal migration into Europe,” the statement read. “We are considering actions to defend Americans at home and abroad from this threat and stand ready to assist other European allies considering similar options.”
By entering Spain’s territory in Africa, the migrants have crossed into the jurisdiction of the European Union, but some fellow member states are threatening to suspend the free travel across Spanish borders in the migration’s aftermath.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced on Thursday that her government is “prepared to intervene with extraordinary measures to defend the borders and the safety of citizens, including the suspension of the Schengen Area with Spain.”
She reiterated that “uncontrolled illegal immigration poses a concrete threat to the security of Europe’s borders” and said Italy “will not yield an inch” on the issue.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez has similarly instructed authorities “to immediately step up checks at the Spanish border.”
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Officials in the Israeli government also used the opportunity to take a shot at Sanchez, who has been an outspoken advocate for Palestinians throughout the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
“My congratulations to the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, for his profound commitment to welcoming immigration and ‘human diversity,’” Israeli Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Friday. “As someone who demonstrates great concern for Hamas and the residents of Gaza, I call on you to translate words into actions: open the doors of Spain and grant refuge to the residents of Gaza who seek to emigrate.”
He added: “This is an excellent opportunity to contribute a little more to Spain’s ‘human diversity.’”