Unwelcome:
Central American migrants walk on the highway in Tapachula, Mexico, near the border with Guatemala, as they continue their journey trying to reach the US. President Donald Trump said on Monday the migrant caravan represents a national emergency.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday he has told the US military and border authorities that a migrant caravan heading towards the US from central America represented a national emergency, as he vowed to cut aid to the region.
“Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were not able to do the job of stopping people from leaving their country and coming illegally to the US. We will now begin cutting off, or substantially reducing, the massive foreign aid routinely given to them,” Trump tweeted.
Since Trump became president in 2017, the US has already moved to sharply decrease aid to central America.
In 2016, the US provided about $131.2m in aid to Guatemala, $98.3m to Honduras, and $67.9m to El Salvador, according to official US data. By 2019, those sums were projected to fall to $69.4m for Guatemala, $65.8m for Honduras, and $45.7m in the case of El Salvador. Combined, the cuts amount to a reduction of almost 40% for the three nations.
Thousands of mostly Honduran migrants crowded into the Mexican border city of Tapachula at the weekend after trekking on foot from the Guatemalan border, defying Trump’s threats to close the USMexico border if they advanced, as well as warnings from the Mexican government. Mexican police in riot gear shadowed the caravan’s arrival along a southern highway but did not impede the migrants’ journey.
“Sadly, it looks like Mexico’s police and military are unable to stop the caravan heading to the southern border of the United States,” Trump wrote in a tweet, adding, “I have alerted border patrol and military that this is a national emergency.”
Trump, who has taken a hard line towards illegal immigration since taking office last year, gave no other details about his administration’s steps.
White House representatives and the US Border Patrol did not immediately reply to requests for comment. Pentagon representatives and the US state department referred questions to the White House.
Trump and his fellow Republicans have sought to elevate the caravan as a campaign issue ahead of the November 6 congressional elections in which his party is fighting to maintain control of the US senate and house of representatives.
Congress has failed to fully fund Trump’s proposed wall along the US-Mexican border, which he has argued is needed to combat illegal immigration.
In April, Trump raised the prospect of sending military forces to the US-Mexico border to stop illegal immigrants, raising questions in Congress and among legal experts about troop deployments on US soil.
A 19th-century federal law restricts using the army and other main branches of the military for civilian law enforcement on US soil, unless specifically authorised by Congress. But the military can provide support services to law enforcement and has done so on occasion since the 1980s.
CGUATEMALA, HONDURAS AND EL SALVADOR WERE NOT ABLE TO DO THE JOB OF STOPPING PEOPLE, WE WILL NOW BEGIN CUTTING OFF AID