Trump to announce border crackdown
Plan is to invoke emergency powers
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is preparing to announce a sweeping border crackdown in a speech Tuesday, a week before the midterm elections, in which he is expected to invoke emergency powers to stop migrants from entering the United States and depict them as a grave national security threat, administration officials said Friday.
Mr. Trump is considering steps that would bar migrants from crossing the border and deny them a chance to apply for asylum in the United States, measures that legal scholars and immigrant rights groups say would contravene U.S. laws and international treaties, likely triggering challenges in federal court.
The president, undeterred, has been buoyed by rising approval ratings in recent weeks and is eager to cudgel his Democratic rivals on border issues, depicting the migrant caravan moving through Mexico as a menace to U.S. security.
Administration officials with knowledge of the speech preparations said the exact measures Mr. Trump will announce remain under discussion, as attorneys from the Department of Homeland Security, Justice Department and White House attempt to craft policies that put the administration on the least-vulnerable legal footing.
Mr. Trump plans to approach the speech as a chance to lay out his vision for an overhaul of immigration policies and border security, according to aides, eager to whip up his base and convince voters his party will take a firm stand on border security.
Democrats have accused Mr. Trump and Republicans of “fearmongering” on immigration ahead of the election.
“President Trump’s immigration policies have been a failure from day one,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, DCalif., said in a statement. “Unlike previous presidents, he has failed to work with our partners in the region, and we are seeing the consequences of his failure today.”
The caravan that has seized Mr. Trump’s attention remains more than 900 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. After peaking at more than 7,000 migrants, according to U.N. estimates, its numbers have dwindled and dissipated over the past several days. Some of those trekking north along the highways of southern Mexico have dropped out, turned back or given up, as the physical strains of the journey take a steep toll, especially on families with small children.
The most recent statements from Mexican officials have said the procession is between 3,000 and 4,000 people and, at its current pace, at least two weeks from the U.S. border.
Some of the migrants could manage to board trucks and hitchhike rides to reach the border sooner, spurred by fears of what Mr. Trump may announce.
The Trump administration has pressured Mexico to stop the caravan, and on Friday President Enrique Peña Nieto announced a new initiative called “Make Yourself at Home” that will offer the migrants work permits, medical care and schooling for their children.
Mr. Nieto’s carrot came with a stick. On Friday, Mexican federal police arrested 300 Central Americans who were part of a second group of migrants attempting to cross the border from Guatemala, according to local media reports. It appeared to be the first attempt by the government to round up large numbers of Central Americans since the caravan’s arrival and aimed at discouraging more migrants from entering Mexico to join the group.
Mexico’s offer requires migrants to register with the government and remain in the southern Mexican states of Chiapas and Oaxaca, far from the U.S. border.