President Donald Trump has warned that the U.S. will face a mass influx of undocumented migrants if Democrats return to the White House, comments prompted by thousands of people pouring into Spanish enclaves in North Africa.
"What's happening with Spain, with tens of thousands of illegal immigrants invading it, happened in the United States during the Sleepy Joe Biden Administration," Trump said on Truth Social on Friday. "It will happen again, only worse."
Trump made his comments in response to reports that thousands of migrants had entered Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in North Africa. Videos showed them jumping over fences marking the border between Ceuta and Morocco, while others swam around a breakwater extending into the Mediterranean.
Spanish officials estimated that around 60,000 migrants crossed into Ceuta over roughly 24 hours. The government also said many had already returned to Morocco voluntarily.
"It looks like an invasion of a country by hundreds of thousands of people," Trump said Friday during a Cabinet meeting. "That same thing is going to happen to us if the Republicans don't get elected — except worse, much bigger, much easier to get into."
Musk Weighs In
Tech billionaire Elon Musk weighed in on the crisis, saying, "Wow, the situation in Spain looks crazy!" Alongside his comments, he posted a scene from the 2013 movie "World War Z" of zombies storming Israel.
He then reposted a video of migrants crossing illegally into the U.S., saying "And this was the U.S. under Biden."
European markets showed no discernible reaction to the migrant surge in Ceuta, with trading driven instead by European Central Bank policy expectations and earnings. Spain's IBEX 35 also held steady, reflecting that investors did not view the episode as a market-moving event.
However, the events have spurred discord in the European Union (EU). The surge has quickly become a political flashpoint in Europe, with leaders framing the episode through their own national debates over migration policy.
EU Leaders Call For Action
EU leaders including Denmark's Mette Frederiksen, Italy's Giorgia Meloni and Germany's Friedrich Merz called for immediate EU action in a letter signed by 22 member states.
The bloc "cannot allow uncontrolled mass crossings, the instrumentalization of migration or other hybrid threats to create the perception that illegal entry into the EU is possible," they wrote.
"It goes without saying that the EU must immediately take all necessary steps and consider all options, including a suspension of Schengen cooperation," Frederiksen, a center-left socialist, told broadcaster DR Friday. "Uncontrolled immigration is a threat to Europe and Denmark."
Meloni on Friday said Italy would impose entry controls for non-EU citizens arriving from Spain.
"Defending borders means defending the safety of citizens, combating irregular immigration, and striking at the criminal networks that traffic human beings," she said on X.
Spain Pushes Back
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez pushed back. He described the EU response as a "selfish, polarizing and unlawful" reaction.
Spain's left-wing government earlier this year granted legal status to more than 500,000 illegal immigrants. The ruling sparked political pushback and sharp criticism from Musk.
The regularization decree on January 27 has allowed foreign nationals, equivalent to about 2% of the country's current labor force, to apply for a one-year residence and work permit if they entered Spain before December 31.
The government has argued the move was designed to bring long-term residents into the formal labor market and address shortages in sectors such as agriculture, care work and construction.
Politicians Point to Migration Law
European politicians have pointed to Spain's migration laws as the cause of the latest crisis in the Spanish territories.
"Poland has tightened asylum laws, border procedures, and has built effective barriers on its border with Belarus, which is the eastern border of the EU," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said. "Spain must follow our example if Schengen is to survive."
The reasons behind the wave of entries are unclear, Bloomberg News reported.
Morocco may have instigated "the crisis by relaxing controls at the border" in retaliation for a recent visit by Sánchez to Algeria, according to Teneo, a political consultancy.
