×

Trump stokes fear of Latin American caravan heading toward US border

WASHINGTON — In President Trump’s effort to generate a winning Republican voter turnout in the November congressional midterm elections, he has resorted to another barrage of lies and misrepresentations about the huge caravan of Central Americans hiking through Mexico to seek asylum in the United States.

It started Monday with a twitterstorm from the president blaming the rival Democrats for failing to enact more restrictive immigration legislation. “Every time you see a Caravan of people coming, or attempting to come, into our Country illegally,” he wrote, “think of and blame the Democrats for not giving us the votes to change or pathetic Immigration Laws!”

He added a political reminder: “Remember the Midterms!” It was a reference to the local and state elections now less than two weeks away, wherein a Republican loss of a majority in the House and/or Senate could imperil the Trump agenda, and possibly open the door to impeachment.

The president tweeted further that “Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were not able to do the job of stopping people from leaving their country and coming illegally to the U.S.” He promised that “we will now begin cutting off, or substantially reducing, the massive foreign aid routinely given to them.” He said this country had already given them “tremendous amounts of money” for nothing, adding: “Every year we give them foreign aid, and they did nothing for us, nothing.”

Trump took the occasion to declare himself “a nationalist” in keeping with his America First slogan and identity. He cast himself as the patriot defender against hordes of hardened criminals and gang members bent on pouring across our southern border to invoke violence, take jobs from Americans and vote in droves for the Democrats.

He said or repeated all this and more in a rare exchange Tuesday with White House reporters before heading off to campaign for Republican House and Senate members and other party candidates in the midterm elections.

The president made these allegations and charged that the Democrats were funding them, with no evidence of the hostile intent of the travelers to which he alluded. His mentions obviously had the intention of driving up turnout of his political base in the states visited.

In his rambling exchanges with the reporters, Trump challenged one of them from a television outlet to go to the caravan now moving slowly through Mexico and to interview some of the walkers. He predicted confidently that the reporter would find the Latin American criminals of which spoke.

“Go into the middle of the caravan, take your cameras and search, OK?” he suggested. “You’re going to find MS-13 (the notorious crime gang), you’re going to find Middle Eastern (interlopers), you’re going to find everything,” Trump declared. “And guess what? We’re not allowing them in our country.” But they apparently were not found by the TV cameramen who already were at the caravan.

Rather, the major television and cable networks have aired interviews reporting in-person accounts of families seeking work and freedom from political oppression in their home countries in Central America.

In the last fiscal year, according U.S. authorities, a record 107,000 family members from Central America were arrested at our southern border, compared to 77,000 in 2016. Trump has tweeted he might send American military forces there somehow to reduce the flow while pressing Congress to authorize more rapid deportations.

At a campaign rally in Wisconsin Wednesday night, Trump said: “Wait until you see what happens in the next few weeks. You’re going to see a very (secure) border. You just watch. And the military is ready. They’re all set … and there is nobody like them.”

As the midterm elections approach, it’s uncertain whether Trump will be able to use the caravan to arouse more anti-immigrant fervor among his voting faithful.

It could also remind other voters of their own immigrant roots and how they have enriched the society so many now enjoy and treasure.

Editor’s note: Jules Witcover’s latest book is “The American Vice Presidency: From Irrelevance to Power,” published by Smithsonian Books. You can respond to this column at juleswitcover@comcast.net.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper *
   

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today