When Donald Trump was running for the presidency, one of his signature promises was that Mexico would pay for his border wall. That never came to pass, but during one of his campaign rallies in January, he offered the following explanation:
"You do know who's paying for the wall, don't you? Redemption. From illegal aliens that are coming in," he said. "The redemption money is paying for the wall."
Speaking to CNN, experts said that the term "redemption money" makes no sense.
"I don't know what the President means by redemptions. I have never heard the word used in this context before," said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor of immigration law practice at Cornell University. "In any event, the President is wrong. Money appropriated by Congress and money diverted from the Department of Defense is paying for construction of the wall, not immigrants."
Other immigration researchers speaking to CNN agreed. But according to Theresa Cardinal Brown of the Bipartisan Policy Center, Trump could have been referring to remittances, but nevertheless, she said there is no magical mechanism that would allow Mexico to pay for the wall.
"I have absolutely no idea what he means by that. Clearly the US is paying for the wall," she said.
Read the full fact check over at CNN.
