Instead of playing politics with people’s lives and sending out angry tweets, President Trump should be in the business of saving people’s lives and should stop treating immigrants like a dangerous enemy force invading our country.

Despite the president’s tweetstorm Thursday, the roughly 4,000 men, women and children from Honduras fleeing violence and poverty who want to travel through Mexico toward the U.S. do not pose a threat.

Like generations of immigrants and refugees before them, these immigrants are seeking better, safer lives in America – as President Trump’s paternal grandparents, his mother and two of his wives did when they immigrated to the United States.

And contrary to the president’s campaign rhetoric, the immigrants coming here now are not members of an army of drug dealers, rapists and other criminals.

The president tweeted Thursday morning: “....The assault on our country at our Southern Border, including the Criminal elements and DRUGS pouring in, is far more important to me, as President, than Trade or the USMCA. Hopefully Mexico will stop this onslaught at their Northern Border. All Democrats fault for weak laws!”

USMCA is the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on free trade awaiting ratification.

The president said in another tweet: “...In addition to stopping all payments to these countries, which seem to have almost no control over their population, I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught - and if unable to do so I will call up the U.S. Military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!..”

As the Honduran immigrants head toward the U.S.-Mexico border, we face a challenging moral and policy circumstance. This requires a response from the American government.

The question is: what type of response?

President Trump offered his solution in his tweets – end aid to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras; call up the U.S. military to close the southern border; and scuttle the new trade agreement with Mexico and Canada. All while blaming Democrats.

Less than three weeks from the midterm elections, this purely political solution is sure to energize a segment of the president’s base. But it doesn’t actually solve the problem.

As the president’s tragic “zero-tolerance” policy proved, not even taking children from their parents will keep Central American families from seeking a better life elsewhere. So, let’s understand the problem and take a rational approach.

El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras remain among the most violent countries on the planet. To stop people from fleeing desperate circumstances, local, regional and international policies must be in place to stem the bloodshed and create real opportunities for economic development.

President Trump should propose more targeted aid and incentives to grow the economies of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, while promoting the rule of law. Over time, if people can find work and live securely, they won’t make the trek north.

The U.S. currently provides approximately $500 million annually to these three countries, combined. This represents 0.012 percent of our federal budget.

The Trump administration should also put in place a policy of setting up U.S. refugee processing centers in local areas near the communities that people are fleeing in Central America. This would enable mothers and fathers to get answers to their asylum requests before they trek 2,000 miles with their children, only to be turned away at our southern border – perhaps with the involvement of the U.S. military.

About the military at the border: It sounds powerful, but it is neither necessary nor practical. The Border Patrol is already the largest law enforcement agency in our country and has not been able to justify its own desire for more agents.

Finally, at our border, the president should spend taxpayer dollars wisely. This includes having the resources to fairly adjudicate asylum claims, so people who do not have a compelling case would be denied entry faster. It also includes ensuring that our ports of entry, where most attempted illegal smuggling takes place, have the necessary infrastructure and manpower. That’s how we can protect the border and facilitate commerce and trade.

Yes, we need a secure border; but we also need a smart border.

After separating babies from parents along the U.S.-Mexico border and drawing ire and outrage across the country and around the world, now the president is threatening to use military action against men, women, and children who are fleeing a hopeless situation. America is better than this.

Through our policies, we can show that we are a nation of laws and a nation of grace.