Felix Marquez / AP
President Donald Trump plans to sign a proclamation to deploy National Guard troops to the southwest border with Mexico, a response that seemed directly linked to his earlier comments about a large caravan of immigrants that was traveling from Central America to the US.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen made the announcement at a White House press briefing Wednesday, a day after Trump threatened to send the military to the border to stop the group of immigrants.
"The threat is real," Nielsen told reporters. "The president has directed the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security to work together with our governors to deploy the National Guard to our southwest border to assist the Border Patrol."
Nielsen said migrants were drawn to the US by lax immigration laws and so-called catch-and-release practices of Border Patrol agents.
"Why not attempt the journey if you have no belief you'll ever be caught?" she asked.
Blaming congress for weak immigration laws, Nielsen said the president would also be pressing lawmakers to close immigration loopholes that enable migrant families to enter and remain in the country.
The Trump administration's attention toward the caravan of immigrants fleeing Central America came after a BuzzFeed News report on the group of more than 1,000 people. The report was then covered by Fox News over the weekend, attracting the president's attention.
Trump responded by suggesting that he would use the military to prevent people from entering the country.
"We are preparing for the military to secure our border between Mexico and the United States," Trump told reporters during a press conference Tuesday, adding he was meeting with Secretary of Defense James Mattis.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders rejected the idea that the president was motivated by the Fox News report.
"I think it has everything to do with protecting the people the of the country," she said. "The president has been talking about it for years, since he started on the campaign trail."
Trump has also suggested that negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement would be affected by Mexico's actions to stop the massive group of people, many who told BuzzFeed News they were fleeing violence and hoping to ask for asylum in the US.
"I told Mexico yesterday that because the fact that their laws are so strong that they could do things about it," Trump said. "I said, 'I hope you're going to tell that caravan not go get up to the border."
Meanwhile, Mexico has pushed back on some of the comments made by the Trump and his administration, issuing a statement that was bluntly titled, "Immigrant Policy Not Subject to Pressure."
The caravan, Mexico said, was breaking up under the direction of its own organizers, and Mexican officials were responding in a legal and humanitarian matter.
"The Mexican government reiterates that its immigration policy is a sovereign issue implemented according to law, through which it seeks to ensure legal, safe and orderly migration with full respect for people's rights," the statement read.
LINK: A Huge Caravan Of Central Americans Is Headed For The US, And No One In Mexico Dares To Stop Them
LINK: Caravan Organizers Say They Will Continue, And Will Finish The Last Leg With Asylum-Seekers
LINK: Mexico Says It Will Disband The Caravan, But Organizers Say Some Of Its Members Will Continue North
from BuzzFeed - USNews https://ift.tt/2IsAnCv
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