President Trump is taking his immigration rhetoric up to eleven.
Trump on Thursday urged Mexico "in the strongest of terms" to stop what he called an "onslaught" of illegal immigration into the United States. About 4,000 Central American migrants are heading toward the U.S. in hopes of crossing the border, NBC News reports, and the State Department wants Mexico to stop this caravan when it reaches the border with Guatemala. Mexico has dispatched about 500 officers to confront the caravan, but has said they will treat these migrants the same as any others, reports The Washington Post.
Now, the president is warning that if Mexico is unable to stop the group of migrants, which he said includes "MANY CRIMINALS," he will "call up the U.S. military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!" He also suggested this could damage the recently-signed United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, as this "assault on our country" is "far more important" than trade.
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Trump sought to place blame on Democrats, accusing them, without evidence, of wanting open borders and faulting them for "weak laws" on immigration. Based on his tweetstorm and recent USA Today op-ed, in which he claimed Democrats wanted "open-borders socialism," it seems Trump has found a new favorite talking point for the weeks leading up to the midterms.
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