President Donald Trump was unapologetic Tuesday about his administration missing a court-ordered deadline to reunite migrant children separated from their families, saying he has an answer to the problem: “Tell people not to come to our country illegally.”

“Well, I have a solution. Tell people not to come to our country illegally,” the president told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Europe. “That’s the solution. Don’t come to our country illegally. Come like other people do. Come legally.”

He pushed back at suggestions that children were suffering because of his immigration policies.

“I’m saying this: We have laws. We have borders. Don’t come to our country illegally. It’s not a good thing,” he said.

He also used the opportunity to smack some Democrats and immigration advocates who have called for abolishing the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

“As far as ICE is concerned, the people that are fighting ICE? It’s a disgrace. These people go into harm’s way. … So we ought to support ICE, not do what the Democrats are doing,” Trump said. “Democrats want open borders, and they don’t mind crime. We want no crime, and we want borders where borders mean something. And remember this: Without borders, you do not have a country.”

A federal judge imposed a Tuesday deadline for the Trump administration to reunite the more than 100 children under 5 years old separated from their parents.

But a government lawyer said Monday that only 54 children would rejoin their parents by the deadline.

They are among more than 2,300 children who have been removed from their parents at the border because of the administration’s immigration policies.