Politics
Trump reverts to an old theme, warns of immigrant caravans
Key Points
Trump reverts to an old theme, warns of immigrant caravans President Donald Trump threatened Thursday to double tariffs on Mexico if authorities there do not stop what he said were “huge CARAVANS” of migrants on their way to the border with the United States. The warning fused two of the president’s favored issues — immigration and tariffs — as he regroups following historic losses for the Republican Party in the midterm election last week. Exit polls showed that although the president is...
Trump reverts to an old theme, warns of immigrant caravans
President Donald Trump threatened Thursday to double tariffs on Mexico if authorities there do not stop what he said were “huge CARAVANS” of migrants on their way to the border with the United States.
The warning fused two of the president’s favored issues — immigration and tariffs — as he regroups following historic losses for the Republican Party in the midterm election last week.
Exit polls showed that although the president is broadly unpopular, his intense crackdown on immigration was not the primary reason voters opted for Democrats. High prices are a major electoral concern, however, and they are likely to be pushed higher by further tariffs, which are taxes on imports.
Trump has long warned of migrant caravans at moments of political peril for him, including ahead of the 2018 midterm election, in which Republicans lost control of the House.
“With the perceived loss by the Republicans in the Midterms - I WAS NOT ON THE BALLOT- the INVASION of our Country is taking place again,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Huge CARAVANS are forming and beginning their illegal march through Mexico.”
Groups of immigrants traveling together are not uncommon in Mexico, where threats from criminal gangs can be a major concern. Reuters, citing regional government information, reported Wednesday that a caravan of about roughly 1,500 people, including many families, set off northward on Tuesday from a city near Mexico’s border with Guatemala. One of the people walking north told Reuters that he hoped that with Democrats empowered — including in the Texas governorship — a new, more lenient immigration policy would take hold in the United States. Representatives from the group said they initially planned to walk to Mexico City, a journey of several weeks, to seek assistance from the Mexican government.
“MEXICO MUST STOP THEM, NOW, and if they do not do so, the Tariffs on Mexico will be IMMEDIATELY DOUBLED. MEXICO, THE GOVERNOR OF TEXAS, THE VERY LIBERAL NEW GOVERNOR OF TEXAS, OUR GREAT BORDER PATROL, & ICE, HAVE BEEN SO INFORMED. There will be no leniency!” Trump wrote.
Trump last week elevated the main architect of his immigration push, Stephen Miller, to be his chief of staff, suggesting that he will double down on his migration policies in his final two years in office.