Reports came out late Thursday night that President Donald Trump has been considering using executive action to stop the migrant caravan that is headed to our border. From Politico:
Under the plan, the Trump administration would publish fast-track regulation that would restrict certain migrants’ ability to seek asylum. The regulation would be paired with a related proclamation from President Donald Trump.The executive actions would follow the playbook of Trump’s most sensational immigration moves and test the bounds of public approval and legality, according to those familiar with it. Trump has fumed publicly and privately in recent days about a caravan of migrants traveling north through Mexico and challenged aides to find a solution.
It’s similar to the travel order Trump established against people from certain countries traveling to America in the beginning of his term.
“The administration is considering a wide range of administrative, legal and legislative options to address the Democrat-created crisis of mass illegal immigration,” a White House official told The San Francisco Chronicle. “No decisions have been made at this time. Nor will we forecast to smugglers or caravans what precise strategies will or will not be deployed.”
The San Francisco Chronicle wrote “Trump would be acting under a provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act,” which allows him “to ban certain classes of immigrants from entering the country if they are deemed ‘detrimental to the interests of the United States.'”
The article continued:
First, Homeland Security and the Justice Department would issue a rule limiting immigrants’ ability to seek asylum if they are part of a population barred by the president. The rule would take effect immediately, unlike most, and be justified as an extraordinary situation.That would clear the way for Trump to issue a proclamation directed at a specific population, expected to target the 7,000-plus Central Americans heading toward the U.S.None of the sources had seen a draft of the proclamation, which would ultimately dictate how sweeping or targeted the rule would be, though they had seen or heard about the draft of the initial rule.
None of the articles mention the reports that claim people “from all over the world” have placed themselves into the caravan, including Asian countries like Bangladesh.
There’s also a second caravan forming in Guatemala.
I blogged yesterday that Trump and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis will probably send 800 troops to the border to counter the migrant caravan. From CNN:
The officials tell CNN final details are being worked out including where the troops will come from and their specific tasks.The troops will not engage in lethal operations to stop the migrants. Instead, they are expected to provide fencing, wall materials and other technical support at several key points along the border where it is believed the migrants may try to cross.The troops will also provide tents and medical care for border authorities in those areas. The troops retain the right of self-defense, but border patrol officers will still be the ones physically stopping illegal migration, the officials said.
According to The Guardian, caravan members remain unfazed by Trump’s threats:
But caravan participants appear unfazed by Trump’s bluster.Many, including Ávila, expressed optimism in their idealized vision of America: a country of justice and opportunity – the opposite, they said, of the oppressive and corrupt governments back home, whose misrule has sent them fleeing with little more than the clothes on their back.“We think he’ll change his way of thinking and let us through,” Ávila said of the US president. “What’s we’re asking God for is that he allows us to enter the United States so that all this sacrifice doesn’t go in vain.”
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