White House plans in flux
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has not settled on a plan for what to do if a migrant caravan arrives at the southern border. Top immigration officials and close Trump advisers are still evaluating the options in closed-door meetings.
They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the topic.
Some in the administration, like Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, advocate a diplomatic approach using relationships with Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador and the United Nations to stop the flow of migrants arriving to the United States.
Others are pressing for more immediate options, including declaring a state of emergency, which would give the administration broader authority over how to manage people at the border; rescinding aid; or giving parents who arrive to the U.S. a choice between being detained months or years with their children while pursuing asylum or releasing their children to a government shelter while a relative or guardian seeks custody. suspect countries apprehended entering or traveling within the United States during the fiscal year that just ended.
Pence also said Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez told him Venezuela was funding the caravan.
At a press conference in Foggy Bottom, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo noted that the United States grants permanent legal status to 1 million people every year. However, he said that with no “proper accounting” of who is in its ranks, the caravan presents “an unacceptable security risk.”
Pompeo said he had a message for caravan members: “I can tell you with certainty we are determined that illegal entry to the United States from this caravan will not be possible.”
Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal. com or 202-662-7391. Follow @Debrajsaunders on Twitter.