President Trump Donald John TrumpGiuliani says he confirmed Trump ‘never’ spoke with Cohen about congressional testimony Russian pop star linked to Trump Tower meeting cancels US tour Harris after announcing presidential run says her 'highest priority' is protecting Mueller probe MORE on Monday said that the U.S. will begin to cut off or reduce aid to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador as citizens of those countries flee for the U.S. as part of a so-called caravan of migrants. 
 
 In a trio of tweets, the president escalated his rhetoric surrounding the group of migrants, declaring a national emergency as they approach the border and claiming that "unknown Middle Easterners" had joined the group. 
 
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 Trump, in the tweets, did not offer any evidence for the charge that people from the Middle East were among those crossing the border. 
 
 "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. We will now begin cutting off, or substantially reducing, the massive foreign aid routinely given to them," Trump wrote in a tweet. 
 
 "Sadly, it looks like Mexico’s Police and Military are unable to stop the Caravan heading to the Southern Border of the United States. Criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in. I have alerted Border Patrol and Military that this is a National [Emergency]. Must change laws!" 
 
 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. We will now begin cutting off, or substantially reducing, the massive foreign aid routinely given to them. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2018 
 
 Sadly, it looks like Mexico’s Police and Military are unable to stop the Caravan heading to the Southern Border of the United States. Criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in. I have alerted Border Patrol and Military that this is a National Emergy. Must change laws! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2018 
 
 Trump had previously threatened to cut off aid to those countries if they did not act to stop their citizens from fleeing. It's unclear if Trump will take unilateral action to reduce foreign aid, as Congress is not scheduled to return to Washington until after the midterm elections. 
 
 Experts have noted that human rights laws restrict actions a government can take to prevent its citizens from leaving its borders. 
 
 The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill about plans to cut foreign aid or to declare a national emergency. 
 
 Trump's suggestion that Middle Easterners had joined the group came shortly after a guest on "Fox & Friends" raised the specter of ISIS fighters embedding themselves in the group. The guest, Peter Hegseth, cited quotes attributed to Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales but acknowledged the claims have not been verified. 
 
 The president is known to watch the show regularly and often comment about segments on Twitter. 
 
 Trump has for days characterized the caravan as a horde of criminals in cahoots with the Democrats while providing no evidence for his claims. 
 
 "Every time you see a Caravan, or people illegally coming, or attempting to come, into our Country illegally, think of and blame the Democrats for not giving us the votes to change our pathetic Immigration Laws! Remember the Midterms! So unfair to those who come in legally," Trump tweeted Monday. 
 
 Every time you see a Caravan, or people illegally coming, or attempting to come, into our Country illegally, think of and blame the Democrats for not giving us the votes to change our pathetic Immigration Laws! Remember the Midterms! So unfair to those who come in legally. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2018 
 
 The caravan of thousands crossed into Mexico over the weekend, continuing their journey toward the U.S. border in search of asylum. 
 
 The group swelled to close to 5,000, The Associated Press reported, after an initial group of 2,000 crossed the Guatemala-Mexico border rather than waiting for asylum processing there. 
 
 The president has pointed to the caravan to stoke fear of an influx of undocumented immigrants and to blame Democrats for failing to pass stronger immigration laws, despite Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress. 
 
 Trump last week warned that he may take military action to stop immigrants from crossing the southern border if Mexico does not take action to stop the "onslaught." 
 
 A series of bipartisan immigration bills failed to garner enough votes in the Senate earlier this year, including one bill backed by the White House. ||||| President Donald Trump railed against immigrants, Mexico, and Democrats in a series of tweets on Sunday and Monday that suggested a caravan of immigrants reportedly traveling toward the U.S. are trying to take advantage of a program they would not qualify for. 
 
 At the White House Easter Egg roll on Monday, Trump told reporters: “The Democrats have really let them down. They really let them down. It’s a shame. A lot of people have taken advantage of DACA. It’s a shame,” according to a pool report. 
 
 Trump’s statements appear to have come after Fox News reported on a caravan of over 1,000 Central American migrants that is currently traveling through Mexico. The migrants’ trek was first reported by BuzzFeed News. 
 
 The 2018 caravan is being organized by a humanitarian volunteer group called Pueblos Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders. The group organized two similar caravans in 2017 and has aided migrants and refugees on the move for over 15 years, according to its website. The group hopes that by traveling in such a large group they will be able to avoid some of the dangers that befell travelers who take the often perilous route through Mexico to the southern border of the United States. 
 
 Alex Mensing of Pueblos Sin Fronteras told ABC News that many of the caravan travelers are fleeing violence and that they are hoping to reach U.S. ports of entry in Arizona, California, or New Mexico where they will claim asylum and likely be detained. 
 
 But starting on Sunday morning, Trump unleashed a flurry of tweets about the caravans – and seemed to conflate the group with DACA. Here are the facts. 
 
 Trump blames “Catch & Release” 
 
 Trump first tweeted that “caravans” are heading toward the Southern U.S. border, but patrol agents “are not allowed to properly do their jobs.” Trump blamed that inability to work on “ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws like Catch & Release.” 
 
 The majority of migrants traveling in the 2018 caravan are originally from Honduras, according to BuzzFeed, and many are fleeing the political unrest that followed the 2017 elections there. Some two-thirds of the migrants reportedly hoping to seek asylum when they reach the U.S. 
 
 During an appearance on Fox and Friends, the union chief of the National Border Patrol Council, Brandon Judd, suggested the “catch and release” policy was partly to blame. Under the policy, unlawful immigrants are released from detention while they await hearings in immigration court. Judd also said that immigrants can also be released if they claim asylum. 
 
 “Once they enter the country, even if we are standing at the border with our hands out saying, ‘Don’t enter, don’t enter,’ all they have to do is cross one foot into the border and we have to take them into custody,” he said. “If they ask for asylum or say I fear to go back to my country, then we have to process them under ‘credible fear’ which allows them to be released into our country.” 
 
 In a February 2017 memo, then Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said the administration was ending “catch and release,” but a Reuters report from last June showed that it was easier said than done. 
 
 The Trump Administration’s attempt to end “Catch & Release” has been hampered by the reality that immigration authorities don’t have the space to hold every immigrant who is detained at the border, according to Reuters. 
 
 Mexico denies it “is doing very little” to stop illegal immigration 
 
 In tweets on Monday Trump blamed Mexico for allowing people to travel to the U.S., suggesting he would end the North American Free Trade Agreement in an effort to stem the flow of migrants. 
 
 The BuzzFeed report notes that “no one has made any effort to stop” the migrants as they travel through Mexico without authorization. About one third of the migrants traveling plan to stay in the country rather than continue on to the U.S. 
 
 Luis Videgaray Caso, Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs, responded in a tweet on Sunday, saying that Mexican authorities work with their American counterparts on migration “every day.” 
 
 Caravan of immigrants not eligible for DACA 
 
 In his tweets, Trump also declared the end of a deal on DACA, a program that has protected young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. by their parents from deportation. Trump suggested that the immigrants who made up the caravan were coming to America in hopes of taking advantage of the program, which he effectively ended in September 2017. Efforts to offer DACA recipients permanent protections have stymied in Congress, in part due the to strict provisions Trump wants included in any deal. Trump has tried to shift the blame to Democrats, but it is not that simple. 
 
 It should be noted that the migrants who are traveling in the caravan, no matter their age, would not qualify for DACA. 
 
 The Trump administration stopped accepting new applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, on Sept. 5, 2017. Under the president’s orders, renewal applications for people who already benefitted from the program needed to have been turned in by Oct. 5, 2017. 
 
 Legal challenges have kept the program alive, to an extent. The administration is still not accepting new applications, but people who have already benefitted from the program can reapply. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, all renewal requests will be adjudicated under the guidelines that were set forth when the program was first established. ||||| Donald Trump on Wednesday squashed any speculation that he might soften his immigration position to reach new voters in the final stretch of the 2016 campaign, delivering a hawkish, hardline, and true-to-his-roots border platform and vowing that on Day One of his administration, the United States would launch a mammoth deportation program and begin construction of a wall. 
 
 Emerging from a hastily organized meeting with Mexico's president, the Republican nominee flew to Arizona and not only renewed his pledge that America’s southern neighbor would fund an impenetrable, beautiful border wall but said it would be built in “record time” and at a “reasonable price." 
 
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 “We will build a great wall along the southern border — and Mexico will pay for the wall,” Trump said. “100 percent. They don’t know it yet, but they're gonna pay for the wall.” 
 
 Trump hailed the “great people and great leaders” of Mexico following his visit to Mexico City but insisted, “they’re going to pay for the wall.” 
 
 “On Day One, we will begin working on an impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful southern border wall,” Trump said during a major speech on immigration in Phoenix after weeks of waffling on the issue that has been core to his campaign. “We will use the best technology, including above- and below-ground sensors. That’s the tunnels. Remember that. Above and below. Above- and below- ground sensors, towers, aerial surveillance and manpower to supplement the wall, find and dislocate tunnels and keep out criminal cartels and Mexico, you know that, will work with us. I really believe it. Mexico will work with us. I absolutely believe it.” 
 
 Shedding any pretense of softening his posture, Trump promised to protect American citizens, reaffirming his America First policy as he blamed President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton directly for violence perpetrated by illegal immigrants. Obama and Clinton, Trump said, support so-called sanctuary cities, a catch-and-release program on the border, visa overstays, the release of “dangerous criminals” and amnesty. 
 
 He accused his rival of promising amnesty in her first 100 days, as well as granting Obamacare, Social Security and Medicare to undocumented immigrants, a move he said would break the federal budget. 
 
 “On top of that, she promises uncontrolled, low-skilled immigration that continues to reduce jobs and wages for American workers and especially for African-American and Hispanic workers within our country — our citizens,” he said. 
 
 He chronicled a number of Americans who’ve died at the hands of immigrants who were in the country illegally and cast Clinton as the candidate who cares more about protecting immigrant families from being split up while presenting himself as the one who puts Americans first. 
 
 “To all the politicians, donors and special interests, hear these words from me and all of you today: There is only one core issue in the immigration debate, and that issue is the well-being of the American people,” Trump said. “Nothing even comes a close second.” 
 
 View Trump promises a physical wall that Mexico will pay for Within hours of meeting with the President of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto, Donald Trump delivers speech in Phoenix, Arizona promising to build a wall and have Mexico pay for it. 
 
 Trump outlined other planks of his policy position, including a promise to return all detained undocumented people to their home countries and zero tolerance for immigrants who commit crimes. It amounted to a massive deportation program. 
 
 “You can call it deported if you want. The press doesn’t like that term,” he said. “You can call it whatever the hell you want. They’re gone.” 
 
 He also touted his “extreme vetting” policy, which includes an ideological test and merit-based entry system, and pledged to bar immigration from nations like Syria and Libya. 
 
 “We have no idea who they are, where they come from,” Trump said. “There’s no documentation. There’s no paperwork. It’s going to end badly, folks. It’s going to end very, very badly.” 
 
 Trump asked voters to imagine an America in which, if he’s elected and his policies are implemented, the U.S. will see a reduction in crime and border crossings, a decrease in the number of gangs and less reliance on welfare, and one in which peace, law, justice and prosperity will prevail. 
 
 “For those here illegally today, who are seeking legal status, they will have one route and one route only: to return home and apply for reentry like everybody else under the rules of the new legal immigration system that I have outlined above,” Trump said. “Those who have left to seek entry under this new system, and it will be an efficient system, will not be awarded surplus visas but will have to apply for entry under the immigration caps or limits that will be established in the future. We will break the cycle of amnesty and illegal immigration. We will break the cycle. There will be no amnesty.” 
 
 Trump launched his campaign last June pledging to build a “great, great wall on our southern border” that the Mexican government would pay for. Months later in November, he called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S. and within days said he would deport millions of illegal immigrants “humanely” with a “deportation force,” too. 
 
 Trump has since modulated his controversial Muslim ban to temporarily suspend immigration from so-called terror states and proposed screening potential immigrants with an ideological admissions test to determine whether they support American values. But his position on immigrants who are already in the country illegally had only gotten hazier in recent days. 
 
 Wednesday was Trump’s opportunity to clean up his muddied position on border security and immigration, and he opened the day by dashing south of the border to meet with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto — a bid to present himself as a tough contender, ready to make demands of his negotiating partners and get a better deal for America. Certainly, Trump scored on optics, standing next to an elected head of state and declaring that both nations “recognize and respect the right of either country to build a physical barrier or wall.” 
 
 But when it came to the central promise of his campaign — that Mexico would pay for the wall — Trump and Peña Nieto disagreed. During the news conference, Trump said it didn’t come up during their discussion. Later, on Twitter, Peña Nieto said he had made clear to Trump at the beginning of their conversation that “Mexico will not pay for the wall,” a comment that prompted ridicule from the Clinton campaign. 
 
 Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta pounced: “It turns out Trump didn’t just choke, he got beat in the room and lied about it.” 
 
 “Donald Trump has made his outlandish policy of forcing Mexico to pay for his giant wall the centerpiece of his campaign,” Podesta said. “But at the first opportunity to make good on his offensive campaign promises, Trump choked. What we saw today from a man who claims to be the ultimate ‘deal maker’ is that he doesn’t have the courage to advocate for his campaign promises when he’s not in front of a friendly crowd.” 
 
 Trump’s campaign responded in kind, with senior communications adviser Jason Miller insisting Wednesday’s meeting was only the opening part of a discussion and relationship-builder between both men. 
 
 “It was not a negotiation, and that would have been inappropriate,” Miller said. “It is unsurprising that they hold two different views on this issue, and we look forward to continuing the conversation.” ||||| ?We need people who will help to Make America Great Again!," President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter. | Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Trump: 'We cannot allow all of these people to invade our country' 
 
 President Donald Trump on Sunday continued escalating his rhetoric about migrants, tweeting, “We cannot allow all of these people to invade our country.” 
 
 The president wrote on Twitter: "When somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no Judges or Court Cases, bring them back from where they came,” presumably confusing “bring” with “send” in that instance. “Our system is a mockery to good immigration policy and Law and Order.” 
 
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 Trump and allies have increasingly used dehumanizing terms to describe immigration, including language like "infest." At times, his harsh words have been reserved for MS-13 gang members, but in other instances he is not specific as to what he is talking about and conflates migrants coming across the border with the brutal gang. 
 
 “Immigration must be based on merit — we need people who will help to Make America Great Again!” he said in his next tweet. 
 
 The president and his administration have been under intense criticism since the new "zero tolerance" immigration policy led to the separation of families apprehended after crossing the border illegally. Trump signed an executive order Wednesday that he said would end the practice, but former homeland security adviser Tom Bossert said Sunday that order will likely be overturned by the courts. 
 
 As he did last week, Trump complained about the role of judges and the court system in the U.S. immigration process. Since illegal immigration is a federal crime — a misdemeanor for a first instance of illegal border crossing and a felony for someone who has been deported who illegally enters the United States again — the process is handled at the federal level by immigration judges. 
 
 The U.S. has an expedited removal process that allows for relatively fast deportation proceedings for people who enter the country illegally, but only if they are citizens of Canada or Mexico. Trump wants to change that. 
 
 But the president seemed to call Sunday for denying due process to people apprehended after crossing the border illegally, and he did not seem to draw a distinction for people who arrive at ports of entry seeking asylum, as are many of those now coming from violence-plagued Central American nations. America is party to treaties that govern the treatment of asylum seekers and non-asylum seekers. 
 
 An American Civil Liberties Union official blasted Trump's statement, saying the president was suggesting an "illegal and unconstitutional" policy change. 
 
 "Any official who has sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution and laws should disavow it unequivocally," said Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. 
 
 Josh Gerstein contributed to this report.
– President Trump unleashed a Twitter attack on Mexico over the weekend, and he picked up right where he left off on Monday morning. In multiple tweets, Trump said Mexico must do more to stop "caravans of people" heading into the US, blasted Democrats for weak border laws, and again demanded his wall. In regard to those "caravans," a reference to reports about a large group of Central Americans working their way northward through Mexico: "They must stop them at their Northern Border, which they can do because their border laws work, not allow them to pass through into our country, which has no effective border laws," Trump wrote. The president made a point to include Democrats in the blame game. "Congress must immediately pass Border Legislation, use Nuclear Option if necessary, to stop the massive inflow of Drugs and People," he wrote. "Border Patrol Agents (and ICE) are GREAT, but the weak Dem laws don’t allow them to do their job. Act now Congress, our country is being stolen!" He again brought up the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and reiterated that he was through trying to resurrect it. "DACA is dead because the Democrats didn’t care or act, and now everyone wants to get onto the DACA bandwagon," he wrote. "No longer works. Must build Wall and secure our borders with proper Border legislation. Democrats want No Borders, hence drugs and crime!"