President Trump on Wednesday continued to focus on the groups of Central American migrants marching to the US border as he attempts to make his hardline immigration stand a major issue in next week’s midterm elections.
“The Caravans are made up of some very tough fighters and people. Fought back hard and viciously against Mexico at Northern Border before breaking through. Mexican soldiers hurt, were unable, or unwilling to stop Caravan. Should stop them before they reach our Border, but won’t!,” the president wrote on his Twitter account.
In a second posting, he reiterated his call to mobilize active-duty US troops at the border with Mexico and said “many more” are coming.
“We will NOT let these Caravans, which are also made up of some very bad thugs and gang members, into the U.S. Our Border is sacred, must come in legally. TURN AROUND!,” he wrote.
The president said he will deploy 5,200 members of the military along the border to help the nearly 2,000 National Guard members already there to help bolster security.
Trump has also pledged to detain migrants seeking asylum for prolonged periods in “tent cities” at the border.
And he has repeated in tweets and interviews that “Middle Easterners” have infiltrated the caravan, although he has not offered any evidence.
“There’s no proof of anything. But there could very well be,” he said last week at the White House.
The president has also said he would shut down the border and issue an executive order to end birthright citizenship guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.
Meanwhile, the migrant group, which includes about 4,000 people and is still nearly 900 miles from the US border, halted in Mexico on Wednesday to rest for a day or longer, the Associated Press reported.
Another group, consisting of about 1,000 migrants, entered Mexico on Monday and is about 250 miles behind.
Members of the groups set out from Honduras about two weeks ago.
Trump has denied that he’s making the procession an election issue.
“I’ve been saying this long before the election. I’ve been saying this before I ever thought of running for office. We have to have strong borders,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on Monday.