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Trump Threatens to Cut Foreign Aid Over the Migrant Caravan Headed For The US

It seemed like the president’s mounting frustration boiled over this morning. In a series of tweets on Thursday, Trump threatened to call the military to guard the southern border, to cut off aid to Central America nations, and to end the recent trade deal with Mexico over the caravan of migrants from Honduras that’s currently heading to the United States southern borders. 

Trump started his tweet by claiming the Democrats of “leading” the caravan. “I am watching the Democratic Party led (because they want Open Borders and existing weak laws) assault on our country by Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, whose leaders are doing little to stop this large flow of people, INCLUDING MANY CRIMINALS, from entering Mexico to U.S.,” Trump tweeted this morning. Of course, it has nothing to do with the Democratic Party. 

“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,” Trump tweeted. “And if unable to do so I will call up the U.S. Military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!” 

“The assault on our country at our Southern Border, including the Criminal elements and DRUGS pouring in, is far more important to me, as President, than Trade or the USMCA,” the president wrote in one last tweet. “Hopefully Mexico will stop this onslaught at their Northern Border. All Democrats fault for weak laws!” 

Trump recently signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement or USMCA, and it was a new trade deal to replace NAFTA, according to Vox. It basically changed policies on labor and environmental standards, intellectual property protections, and digital trade provisions. 

The migrant caravan has as many as 4,000 people traveling together. The group left Honduras and crossed Guatemala’s borders on Monday, with the hopes of reaching the US. They won’t reach Mexico for several more weeks, and it is likely that they will be apprehended before that. 

Earlier this week, Trump threatened to cut off aid to Honduras if the caravan wasn’t stopped. According to NBC News, the Mexican government announced before the president’s twitter rant that the people who entered Mexico illegally would be “rescued” and deported. Caravan members could ask for asylum in Mexico, but they would be detained up to 90 days. 

This is also not the first time Trump has blamed the Democrats and made threats to stop aid payments to Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador unless those countries do something to stop their citizens from leaving. According to The Washington Post, Border Patrol has arrested a record number of undocumented migrants at the southern border, and those numbers continue to rise in October, despite Trump’s threats. 

 

Carissa Dunlap is a Her Campus News X Social Intern for Summer 2018. She is a current Publishing major and Journalism minor at Emerson College (Class of 2020). When she isn't perusing the YA bookshelf at the bookstore, she can be found watching dog videos on Facebook, at her favorite coffee shops, or relaxing on the beach. Follow her on Instagram @dunlapcarissa or Twitter @Caridunlap.