Trump says he’ll use army to close border

U.S. President Donald Trump said he’d mobilize the U.S. military to close the border with Mexico to stop an “assault” on the nation by a caravan of migrants from Central America.

Trump, who ran in 2016 promising to tighten U.S. immigration laws and stanch the inflow of undocumented migrants, has called for cutting off foreign aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador if they don’t stop the migrants.

“In addition to stopping all payments to these countries, which seem to have almost no control over their population, I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught — and if unable to do so I will call up the U.S. Military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!” Trump said on Twitter.

Hours later, Lt.-Col. Jamie Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement that “the Department of Defense has not been tasked to provide additional support” beyond National Guard troops already providing assistance.

Trump also attempted to politicize the issue Thursday by claiming Democrats are backing the human movement to bolster what he said was the party’s preference for “open borders and existing weak laws.” Democrats in Congress generally have supported a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants — but only those who meet certain criteria — and have never proposed doing away with border rules.

The issue has new urgency under Trump, whose “zero-tolerance” policy of enforcing border laws came under fire earlier this year for a plan that included separating migrant families. Though the administration abandoned that policy, Trump has said he’s considering bringing it back.

More than 2,000 people — including many who left home so quickly they brought only backpacks — are making their way from Honduras, travelling through Guatemala and heading toward the U.S., The AP reports.