Trump's making the migrant caravan a political issue

Washington (CNN) - President Donald Trump, inside of a series of tweets on Monday, claimed he would declare a "countrywide crisis" over an issue that has often piqued his awareness -- migrant caravans relocating toward The us by way of Central The united states and Mexico.

His tweets come just months forward of the 2018 midterm elections and he has emphasized immigration as a essential issue, devoid of evidence accusing Democrats of pushing for overrun borders in what appears for being a unadorned dread marketing campaign aimed toward turning out his supporters. Immigration was a essential concern inside the 2016 presidential race.

Crowds of migrants, believed to become about seven,two hundred folks on Monday, resumed their extensive journey north on Sunday into Mexico as Portion of a migrant caravan originating in Central The usa.

At present migrants are within the Central Park Miguel Hidalgo in the center of Tapachula. Organizers program for them to start going north, reaching the northern city of Huixtla, which can be about twenty miles north, and resting there.

The President, in his tweets, also created various questionable claims regarding immigration along with the caravan. Among the them: that "unknown Middle Easterners" are "blended" in Using the caravan, that he will be removing overseas support over the caravan, and that Mexican authorities failed to end migrants from coming into Mexico.

Asked afterwards Monday about his assertion about "not known Center Easterners" in the caravan, Trump explained: "Unfortunately, they have many Everyone in that team."

"We've gotta end them in the border and, sadly, you consider the countries, they've not finished their position," he claimed. "They've got not completed their task. Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador -- They are paid lots of money, yearly we provide them with overseas help and they did almost nothing for us, practically nothing."

Here's what we know:

Are there "mysterious Middle Easterners" "blended" in the migrant caravan?

Trump tweeted "criminals and unidentified Center Easterners are mixed" into the migrant caravan transferring toward America. He named this a "countrywide emergy" (sic).

It really is unclear what "unknown Middle Easterners" Trump seems being referring to in his tweet, considering that there are already no reports, while in the push or publicly from intelligence companies, to advise there are "Middle Easterners" embedded during the caravan.

A senior counterterrorism official advised CNN's Jessica Schneider that "while we acknowledge there are vulnerabilities at equally our northern and southern border, we don't see any evidence that ISIS or other Sunni terrorist teams are trying to infiltrate the southern US border."

Even so, before this month, Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales claimed international people today connected to terrorism were being captured in the region during his administration, which began in January 2016.

"We have now arrested almost 100 men and women really associated with terrorist groups, exclusively ISIS. We've don't just detained them in our territory, they've got also been deported for their countries of origin. All of you listed here have information to that impact," Morales claimed during a Conference on Prosperity and Security in Central The united states function attended by Secretary of Point out Mike Pompeo.

There's no direct backlink or correlation involving Morales' assertion and Trump's assertion on Twitter.

The Section of Homeland Stability didn't present any evidence to bolster the President's assert about "unknown Middle Easterns" within the caravan when requested for it by CNN on Monday.

A Section official advised CNN that in fiscal calendar year 2018, Customs and Border Security "apprehended seventeen,256 criminals, 1,019 gang members, and 3,028 Unique curiosity aliens from international locations for instance Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria and Somalia. Also, (Customs and Border Defense) prevented ten acknowledged or suspected terrorists from touring to or coming into The usa every single day in fiscal 12 months 2017."

The Office of Homeland Protection did not specify any Middle Jap international locations.

Pressed with regard to the President's assertion there are "unknown Center Easterners" blended in with the caravan, a Point out Section spokesperson stated they comprehend there are numerous nationalities inside the caravan and referred us to Division of Homeland Stability To learn more.

Will the administration Slice off international support? Can they?

Trump tweeted that mainly because "Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador have been not able to do The work of halting folks from leaving their nation and coming illegally for the U.S.," The us "will now start out removing, or significantly cutting down, The huge international aid routinely specified to them."

It can be unclear in which the administration will propose to create the cuts the President seems to get discussing, and CNN has arrived at out for the White House and the DHS for more facts.

Even so, the Congressional Finances and Impoundment Handle Act prohibits the President from withholding -- or impounding -- income appropriated by Congress.

Ny Rep. Eliot Engel, the highest Democrat on the House Committee on Overseas Affairs, mentioned Monday that his Business has attained out to the Government Accountability Business office making sure that the President doesn't violated the act.

"Luckily, Congress -- not the President -- has the power of the purse, and my colleagues And that i won't stand idly by as this Administration ignores congressional intent," Engel reported in a press release.

Trump has manufactured the specter of cuts to foreign assist likely to Latin American nations around migrant caravans various moments over the last 12 months.

Underneath the Trump administration, and Using the acceptance with the Republican-managed Congress, there have currently been major cuts to foreign help to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras -- the 3 countries he described Monday -- plus the administration plans to continue creating cuts in fiscal 12 months 2019.

Ended up authorities from Mexico struggling to stop the migrant caravan from heading into the US?

Trump tweeted Monday that "Mexico's Police and Armed forces are struggling to stop the Caravan heading for the Southern Border of The us."

Usually there are some seven,five hundred people today marching north as Element of a migrant caravan via Mexico, caravan organizer Dennis Omar Contreras informed get more info CNN. He explained the organizers did a depend of contributors Monday early morning.

He reported the migrants will go away Mexico's Tapachula for the town of Huixtla, which is located greater than 20 miles northwest in their Monday early morning locale.

While Mexican authorities said ahead of the caravan's arrival that anybody who entered the state "within an irregular fashion" can be issue to apprehension and deportation, many migrants from the caravan appear to obtain circumvented authorities.

CNN crews witnessed migrants leaping off a bridge for the Mexico-Guatemala border and Using rafts to reach Mexican soil.

Mexican authorities say more than one,000 Central American migrants formally utilized for refugee status in Mexico over the past a few days.

It really is unclear how authorities will respond to the A large number of other migrants who will be marching north.

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