Caravan draws wrath of Trump as election nears

Eager to focus voters on immigration in the lead-up to the midterm elections, President Trump on Monday escalated his threats against a migrant caravan trudging slowly through Mexico toward the U.S. as the Pentagon prepared to deploy thousands of U.S. troops to support the border patrol.

Trump tweeted: “This is an invasion of our Country and our Military is waiting for you!”

His warning came as the Pentagon began executing a support mission dubbed “Operation Faithful Patriot” to provide military assistance requested by the Customs and Border Patrol. The troop total would be around 5,200, with troops coming mainly from major Army bases from coast to coast.

The Customs and Border Patrol is pushing a surge in personnel in response to the caravan of Central American immigrants, which was still hundreds of miles from the U.S. border, three administration officials said. The military troops are intended to assist the border patrol, not engage directly with migrants.

The White House is also weighing additional border security measures, including blocking those traveling in the caravan from seeking legal asylum and keeping them from entering the U.S.

The escalating rhetoric and deployments come as the president has been trying to turn the caravan into a key election issue with just days to go before the midterm vote that will determine whether Republicans maintain control of Congress.

“This will be the election of the caravans, the Kavanaughs, law and order, tax cuts, and you know what else? It’s going to be the election of common sense,” Trump said at a rally in Illinois Saturday.

He continued his threats on Monday, tweeting, without providing evidence, that, “Many Gang Members and some very bad people are mixed into the Caravan heading to our Southern Border.”

The caravan, now estimated at 4,000 people, began walking, and increasingly riding, from Tapanatepec to Santiago Niltepec on Monday. While catching rides from passing trucks had been a largely impromptu habit in the first week of the caravan, it has now become more organized. The caravan still must travel roughly 1,000 miles to reach the nearest U.S. border crossing at McAllen, Texas.

Also Monday, another group of migrants were gathered in Guatemala at a border bridge over the Suchiate River in hopes of reaching Mexico.

Santiago Billy / Associated Press Central American migrants gather in Tecun Uman, Guatemala, on a border bridge, hoping to cross into Mexico. A separate caravan already has advanced into Mexico’s Oaxaca state.