White House: Migrant Caravan Marches North in Mexico; Trump Says Migrants Will Not Be Accepted and Threatens to Double Tariffs on Mexico
The White House said on November 12 that a migrant caravan is marching north through southern Mexico, and President Donald J. Trump said the same day that the migrants will not be accepted into the United States, threatening that tariffs on Mexico will be immediately doubled if Mexico does not stop the caravan.
According to Reuters, the caravan set off on Tuesday from Tapachula in Mexico's Chiapas state, near the border with Guatemala, and was estimated at about 1,500 people, including many families, with more than 1,000 people walking north on Wednesday. Reuters reported that the Democratic victory in last week's U.S. midterm elections had raised hopes among some migrants that U.S. immigration policy could become more welcoming. The White House release quoted migrants in the caravan saying they believed Democrats would help them enter the United States, including a Nicaraguan migrant who had previously been deported from the United States and said there might be a way in.
In a social media post on November 12, Trump wrote that huge caravans are forming and beginning their march through Mexico, but that they will not be accepted, that Mexico must stop them now, and that if it does not, tariffs on Mexico will be immediately doubled, with no leniency. The White House release included that statement.
White House Border Czar Tom Homan said on November 11 that Congress and Texas may be more blue, but the White House is red, and that the caravans can come to the border but will not be released into the United States, adding that the administration is not giving one inch on the border. James Percival, General Counsel of the Department of Homeland Security, said on November 12 that if the caravan reaches the southern border, it will find a Border Patrol that is extremely ready, that the President is still the President, and that the midterms do not change that.
The White House release also listed recent immigration statements by Democratic lawmakers, including Representatives Hakeem Jeffries, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib criticizing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and calling for ICE to be abolished, as well as statements by Democratic local officials in Texas about cooperation with ICE.
(Source: The White House)
Source: The White House
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的白宫北草坪全景。照片：Aaron Zhu，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 3.0。 / Photo: Panoramic view of the White House in Washington from the North Lawn. Photo: Aaron Zhu, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
