"Our
Military Is Waiting For You"; Trump Warns Caravan As 5,000
Troops Sent To Southern Border
29
October, 2018
The
US military will deploy 5,000 troops to the southern border - up from
initial estimates of 800, according to the Wall
street Journal, citing
US officials. The troops will be sent to Texas, Arizona and
California as Central American migrant caravan makes its way north
through Mexico.
Defense Secretary Jim
Mattis told reporters Sunday that the military has already started to
deploy countermeasures to the southern border, following weekend
reports that Mexican police had abandoned their own blockades as a
massive Central American migrant caravan continues their march north,
reports AP.
On
Monday, President
Trump warned the caravan,
tweeting: "Many Gang Members and some very bad people are mixed
into the Caravan heading to our Southern Border. This
is an invasion of our Country and our Military is waiting for you!"
Pentagon
is installing jersey barriers ahead of the troop deployment.
On
Sunday night, Fox News initially reported that just 800 soldiers
would be deployed to the border to provide "logistical support,"
which includes providing vehicles and tents for the Border Patrol.
The
caravan of roughly 7,200 migrants is around 1,000 miles from the
closest US border crossing, and is becoming yet another flashpoint
over President Trump's immigration policy less than two weeks before
the key November 6 midterm elections. According to Fox,
the group is traveling at around 30 miles per day since leaving
Honduras.
Vice President Mike Pence
warned this weekend that the
caravan was being funded by outside, leftist groups,
citing intelligence he says was provided by foreign partners along
with a telephone call with the President of Honduras.
"What the president of Honduras told me is that the caravan was organized by leftist organizations, political activists within Honduras, and he said it was being funded by outside groups, and even from Venezuela," Pence told Fox News in an interview late Friday in Yuma, Arizona. "So the American people, I think, see through this – they understand this is not a spontaneous caravan of vulnerable people." -Fox News
President Trump,
meanwhile, has levied harsh criticism at Honduras, Guatemala and
El Salvador for not stopping the caravan, and even threatened to cut
off aid last week in retaliation. Trump has also claimed that
"criminals and unknown Middle Easterners" are among the
migrants, while Homeland Security said last week that "gang
members" and those with "significant
criminal histories"
are also traveling with the caravan
Over
100 Mexican officers allowed the caravan to cross a bridge they
had barricaded following outrage from Mexico's National Human Rights
Commission, which told police that the rural stretch of highway they
were blocking had no shade, toilets or water for the migrants.
Police boarded buses and headed further down the highway, while migrants cheered and vowed to trek all the way to the U.S. border.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto launched a program on Friday dubbed "You are home," which promises shelter, medical attention, schooling and jobs to Central Americans who agree to stay in the southern Mexico states of Chiapas or Oaxaca.
Police commissioner Benjamin Grajeda said that authorities only blocked the highway Saturday to tell people about the government's offer. "Here in this truck right now you can get help," he said. -Fox News
Thousands
of migrants rejected Mexico's offer for asylum Friday night, however
some said they were willing to discuss the issue once they reach
Mexico City. If those discussions don't result in the caravan
stopping, US forces await at the border.
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