Trump Threatens Definitive Final Step over Migrant Disaster
President Donald Trump is not done taking swift and strong action to protect the southern border of the United States from what many are characterizing as an invasion. And he is pressuring the Mexican government to help him do it.
Politico reported Monday that Trump has “demanded” Mexico deport the caravans of migrants who have made their way to the U.S.-Mexico border “anyway you want.” Option B, if they fail to comply with this “demand,” is that the U.S. border will be shut down, “permanently, if need be.”
Trump made the announcement in an early-morning Twitter post.
Mexico should move the flag waving Migrants, many of whom are stone cold criminals, back to their countries. Do it by plane, do it by bus, do it anyway you want, but they are NOT coming into the U.S.A. We will close the Border permanently if need be. Congress, fund the WALL!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2018
Trump’s comment about “stone cold criminals” is based on an earlier report from the Department of Homeland Security. The report noted that 270 members of the caravan were identified as having serious criminal histories and being gang members.
Mexico has already shown a willingness to help the United States. Politico noted prior actions taken by the neighboring government.
These actions include arrests and a potential deal to keep the migrants in Mexico while asylum claims are being processed.
Trump’s latest call for action follows a weekend of violence from the migrants. Border patrol agents were assaulted with rocks and other projectiles, resulting in non-lethal force, including tear gas, being used to help disperse the crowds.
According to KNXV-TV, Mexican authorities have claimed they will be deporting hundreds of migrants who were detained for their involvement in rushing the border.
Trump has offered “advice” to Mexico, previously. Just days ago he tweeted that a smart move for the country would be to not even let the caravans get to this point. Mexico has also struggled with problems from the caravans crossing through the country, even breaking through the border to do so.
Would be very SMART if Mexico would stop the Caravans long before they get to our Southern Border, or if originating countries would not let them form (it is a way they get certain people out of their country and dump in U.S. No longer). Dems created this problem. No crossings!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 25, 2018
According to Fox News, one example of problems Mexico has faced may be seen in Tijuana. The city welcomed the migrants “opened up with wide arms,” Trump said.
But what the city got in return was not the peaceful, grateful response it perhaps hoped for. In one week’s time, three dozen members of the caravan were arrested.
Charges included disturbing the peace, public intoxication, drug possession, and resisting police. City officials said that those arrested would be deported.
Mexico cooperating with the U.S. government not only helps both countries, but the migrants, as well. While Trump has authorized lethal force if neccesary, Fox News noted that there may be some legal hurdles in actually using it.
Basically, it can only be used in self-defense. The Border Patrol has already been attacked with rocks and other projectiles.
So, using lethal force in that situation may be legally OK. But so far, those involved have opted to use non-lethal force instead.
For now, there have been no deaths on either side following the weekend’s violence, but if the violence continues or increases, that may change. Trump has stated the shut-down may occur if the situation becomes “uncontrollable,” pointing to Mexican officials as being at least partially responsible for such a circumstance.
Fox News wrote that the president said of the border that if we “find that it’s uncontrollable, if we find that it gets to a level where we are going to lose control or where people are going to start getting hurt, we will close entry into the country for a period of time until we can get it under control. The whole border.”
A shut-down would have an economic impact on both Mexico and the United States. Good relations and ongoing cooperation are not only a good-neighbor policy, but economically beneficial.
The alternative is much worse.
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