‘This Is an Invasion of Our Country and Our Military Is Waiting for You!’ Trump Tweets
In a massive escalation President Trump will now send 5200 troops to the U.S. border in response to the estimated 4000 largely unarmed asylum-seeking migrants walking from Honduras. The “caravan,” as it’s called, is about 1000 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border, and at last report had stopped after a child was reportedly abducted.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the news, noting that the Pentagon has named this massive deployment “Operation Faithful Patriot.” It is rare for the U.S. Military to be deployed within America’s borders, except during emergencies like hurricanes, when governors can call up the National Guard.
Last week reports said the President would be sending 800 troops.
It will take weeks for the migrants, who are fleeing drugs, gangs, violence, and desperate poverty, to reach the U.S.-Mexico border.
Late Monday morning President Trump posted a false and fear-mongering tweet designed to support this nearly unprecedented deployment, just one week before the midterm elections.
“Many Gang Members and some very bad people are mixed into the Caravan heading to our Southern Border,” Trump claimed, citing no evidence. Reporters who are traveling with the migrants have said these claims are false. Last week Trump suggested terrorists are part of the caravan.
“Please go back, you will not be admitted into the United States unless you go through the legal process. This is an invasion of our Country and our Military is waiting for you!” Trump said.
CNN’s Jeff Yang notes the 5000 troops “would be the 12th largest US military deployment in the world, and about the same number as we have in Iraq.”
The President’s supporters have ignorantly echoed those exact words, calling the migrant caravan an “invasion,” and saying they don’t care what he says, they will continue to follow him no matter what.
“The caravan still must travel 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) to reach the nearest U.S. border crossing at McAllen, Texas,” ABC News reports. “The trip could be twice as long if the 4,000 or so migrants head for the Tijuana-San Diego frontier, as another caravan did earlier this year. Only about 200 in that group made it to the border.”
This article has been updated to note the increase from 5000 to 5200 troops after a 4 PM DoD press conference.
Image: U.S. Army National Guard Photo by Staff Sgt. Brian A. Barbour via Flickr