U.S. Troops May Use Force Against Caravan Members Who Initiate Violence




U.S. troops that are confronted by the illegal migrant caravans now in Central America that are approaching the nation’s southern border will be authorized to use force to defend themselves, President Trump said Thursday as he promised a new executive order next week that will prevent those entering the country illegally from making asylum claims.
Trump’s comments came the day after he released a hard-hitting video reminding voters of Democrat shortcomings on immigration policy. The ad features an expletive-spewing Luis Bracamontes, an illegal alien who was sentenced to death for murdering two cops in 2014 in Sacramento, California, when Barack Obama was president. “I’m going to kill more cops soon,” the smiling, remorseless killer is shown saying in the video.
"It is outrageous what the Democrats are doing to our Country,” Trump wrote Oct. 30 in a tweet that included the video.
Meanwhile, there are now four caravans of thousands of border-busting foreigners from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras that are headed for the United States. Many are violent or reportedly are suffering from communicable diseases. The first is currently near Matias Romero in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. The second is around Huixtla in the Mexican state of Chiapas. The third and fourth caravans are near Escuintla, Guatemala, and Ahuachapan, El Salvador, respectively.
“Migrants seeking asylum will have to present themselves lawfully at a port of entry,” Trump said Nov. 1 at the White House, according to The Epoch Times. “Those who choose to break our laws and enter illegally will no longer be able to use meritless claims to gain automatic admission into our country.” Trump also called human traffickers “the lowest scum on earth.”
“These migrants are not legitimate asylum seekers,” he said. “They're not looking for protection because if they were, they'd be able to get it from Mexico.”
Trump is right, of course. Legitimate refugees fleeing persecution in their homelands are obligated under international law to seek the protection of the first country they enter, not the country they like the most. Refugee claimants who ignore this rule risk having their claims rejected and being deported. Some caravan marchers have reportedly been offered asylum in Mexico but have rejected it.
The day before Trump’s big announcement he said up to 15,000 troops could be deployed to the border. “We’ll go up to anywhere between 10 and 15,000 military personnel—on top of Border Patrol, ICE and everybody else at the border,” the president said.
“These illegal caravans will not be allowed into the United States and they should turn back now,” Trump said. “We are stopping people at the border. This is an invasion.”
Those in the caravans who throw rocks at authorities will be treated the same as if they brandished a gun, Trump vowed.
“We will consider that a firearm,” Trump said.
“We will consider that the maximum we can consider that, because they’re throwing rocks viciously and violently. …. We’re not going to put up with that. They want to throw rocks at our military, our military fights back. I told them to consider it a rifle. When they throw rocks, like they did at the Mexico military and police, I said, consider it a rifle.”
These caravans present a significant threat to American sovereignty, Trump said. “If these caravans are allowed into our country, only bigger and more emboldened caravans will follow … and you see that’s what’s happening now.”