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U.S. NEWS Friday 26 OctOber 2018
TROOPS TO BORDER in the sprawling caravan The planned deployment
Continued from Front — once estimated by the of active duty troops is in
Trump, who made fear United Nations to number response to a request from
about immigrants a major more than 7,000 — are the Department of Home-
theme of his 2016 election hoping to make it to the land Security, which man-
campaign, has been eager United States. ages the Border Patrol, a
to make it a top issue head- Most are Hondurans, seek- U.S. official said.
ing into the Nov. 6 midterm ing to escape poverty and DHS asked for help in vari-
elections, which will deter- violence, and include fami- ous forms, the official said,
mine control of Congress. lies with children. including air transport and
The president and senior The caravan swelled dra- other logistical assistance.
White House officials have matically soon after cross- It was not immediately
long believed the issue is ing the Mexican border on clear why active duty forc-
key to turning out his base Oct. 19, but sickness, fear es were sought because
of supporters. and police harassment National Guard troops can
The additional troops would have whittled down its perform the same func-
provide logistical and other numbers. tions. Earlier this year Mattis
support to the Border Pa- Trump tweeted a direct authorized Pentagon fund-
trol, said the U.S. official, message to the migrants ing for up to 4,000 National
who spoke on condition of Thursday, urging them to Guard troops on the border Central American migrants traveling with a caravan to the U.S.
anonymity to discuss a plan return home. and thus far only a little over make their way to Pijijiapan, Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018.
that had not been finalized "To those in the Caravan, 2,000 have been used. The sprawling caravan of migrants hoping to make their way to
and formally announced. turnaround," he wrote. "We Federal law prohibits the the United States set off again, forming a column more than a
mile long as the group trekked out of the town of Mapastepec
It's not unusual for the Na- are not letting people into use of active duty service in southern Mexico before dawn.
tional Guard to help with the United States illegally. members for law enforce- Associated Press
border security. Active duty Go back to your Country ment inside the U.S. unless
troops, however, are rarely and if you want, apply for specifically authorized by to a rally in Wisconsin on of weeks. You're going to
deployed within the United citizenship like millions of Congress. Wednesday. see a very secure border,"
States except for domes- others are doing!" Trump seemed to hint at "Wait'll you see what hap- he said.
tic emergencies like hur- The migrants have largely the troop announcement pens over the next couple "You just watch."q
ricanes or floods. Fears of been disconnected from
militarizing the border were news reports about them.
fanned by a May 1997 inci- When asked about Trump's
dent in which a Marine on tweets, they have gener-
a counter-narcotics mission ally responded that he
shot to death an 18-year- should stop attacking them
old who was herding goats and said they would keep
in Redford, Texas. heading north.
Troops being sent at Trump's Candy Guillermo, a
direction would not be on 37-year-old migrant in the
armed security missions. caravan who had heard
They would assist the Border about the plan to deploy
Patrol by providing things troops, was surprised she
such as vehicles, tents and and the children in group
equipment. There already would be considered a
are about 2,000 National threat. "Trump should be
Guard members there un- more humanitarian," she
der a previous Pentagon said. "We only want to give
arrangement. our kids a better future."
Trump has used the cara- Migrants who do reach the
van to bolster his election- U.S. border can claim asy-
season warnings that the lum under U.S. and interna-
U.S. is being infiltrated by tional law. Those who clear
illegal immigrants "pouring an initial screening are of-
across the border," whom ten released until their cas-
he has painted with a sinis- es are decided in immigra-
ter brush. tion court, which can take
He has claimed, without several years.
any apparent basis in fact, The U.S. had 331,700 asylum
that "Middle Easterners" claims in 2017, more than
were among the group. At any country in the world,
rallies and on Twitter, Trump according to the U.N. Refu-
has tried to portray the gee Agency. That's nearly
Democrats as pro-illegal double the asylum claims
immigration, even claim- the U.S. fielded in 2015
ing, with no evidence, that and nearly quadruple the
Democrats organized the claims in 2013.
caravan. Trump ordered the de-
He tweeted Thursday that, ployment of the National
"Democrat inspired laws Guard earlier this year to
make it tough for us to respond to a spike in illegal
stop people at the bor- crossings. Those troops are
der" and said he was using under the control of state
the military to respond to governors and are limited
what he called a "National to support roles such as
Emergency."The migrants providing surveillance.