On Sunday morning, hosts Ed Henry, Jedediah Bila, and Pete Hegseth of Fox & Friends Weekend discussed Donald Trump's threat to shut down the southern border. Trump's complaint was that the Mexican government isn't doing enough to stop illegal immigration into the U.S. He also announced that the U.S. would be suspending foreign aid payments to some countries. Based on the Fox News chyron though, it's not super clear which countries those are: "TRUMP CUTS U.S. AID TO 3 MEXICAN COUNTRIES." It's a safe bet that whoever wrote this meant to say "Central American countries," since Trump did tell reporters, according to the Washington Post, "I’ve ended payments to Guatemala, to Honduras and El Salvador. No more money is going there anymore. We were giving them $500 million. We were paying them tremendous amounts of money, and we’re not paying them anymore because they haven’t done a thing for us." Those three countries make up the "Northern Triangle," and people from the region make up the bulk of the migrant caravans that Trump has fixated on, both before pivotal elections and after embarrassing public losses. The largest share of people crossing the border into the U.S. comes from those countries, and under Barack Obama, the State Department began directing aid to the region in an attempt to deal with the issues driving people to migrate in the first place: things like poverty, violence, political instability. Later on in the show, Hegseth apologized, saying, "We had an inaccurate graphic on the screen while talking about this very story. We just want to be clear, the funding is being cut off to the three Central American countries. We apologize for the error. It never should have happened." Typos happen. But Trump—and the advisers and pundits around him—often over-simplifies immigration talk until what he's saying is practically nonsense. Take, for example, his claims that Mexico "is sending" criminals across the border, or that other countries aren't doing enough to keep migrants from heading to the U.S. He seems to operate on the idea that heads of state sit down with a stack of census data to decide who they want to keep and who goes, and they get rid of them by, somehow, convincing them to walk thousands of miles to the U.S. border where they apply for asylum. And Fox & Friends has breathlessly backed up Trump on his anti-immigrant tirades, mentioning caravans daily in the week before the last State of the Union and, in Hegseth's case, comparing one migrant caravan to an "invasion." Meanwhile, Trump is also threatening to shut down the U.S. border with actual Mexico, a move that will affect nearly 5 million American jobs. Like his moves to block foreign aid, this policy doesn't make any more sense the more it gets explained.<doc-sep>While reporting on the State Department’s announcement to no longer provide foreign assistance to Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala Fox & Friends Weekend showed a graphic that read: “Trump cuts U.S. aid to 3 Mexican countries.” The three Latin American countries are independent nations. But the mistaken chyron stayed on screen for 30 seconds. According to Yahoo News, the network later released an apology saying, We want to clarify and correct something that happened earlier in the show,” the apology read. “We had an inaccurate graphic on screen … we just want to be clear the funding is being cut off to three Central American countries. We apologize for the error, it never should have happened.” But Twitter did what Twitter does, and deservingly so: I was today years old when I found out Mexico was 3 countries pic.twitter.com/gVQx9cppzS — Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) March 31, 2019 Best part of this: none of the 3 countries were Mexico. https://t.co/XVGAMlhjOh — Mike P. "Ontario Dad" Moffatt 🇨🇦🏅🏅 (@MikePMoffatt) March 31, 2019 North Mexico, South Mexico and Mexiopotamia — Dr. KeishaBee (@KeishaBee626) March 31, 2019 That IS how they see us @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/le4StDkG4n — Paola Ramos (@paoramos) March 31, 2019 This is a testament to the high journalistic standards of Fox News. Always breaking stories. Who knew this about Mexico? https://t.co/vBB7PktzgF — Alex Gibney (@alexgibneyfilm) March 31, 2019<doc-sep>Taking drastic action over illegal immigration, President Donald Trump moved Saturday to cut direct aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, whose citizens are fleeing north and overwhelming U.S. resources at the southern border. The State Department notified Congress that it would look to suspend 2017 and 2018 payments to the trio of nations, which have been home to some of the migrant caravans that have marched through Mexico to the U.S. border. Amplified by conservative media, Trump has turned the caravans into the symbol of what he says are the dangers of illegal immigration — a central theme of his midterm campaigning last fall. With the special counsel’s Russia probe seemingly behind him, Trump has revived his warnings of the caravans’ presence. Story continues below advertisement Trump also has returned to a previous threat he never carried out — closing the border with Mexico. He brought up that possibility on Friday and revisited it in tweets Saturday, blaming Democrats and Mexico for problems at the border and beyond despite warnings that a closed border could create economic havoc on both sides. WATCH: Trump says they will close border if Mexico doesn’t stop caravans 4:03 Trump says they will close border if Mexico doesn’t stop caravans Trump says they will close border if Mexico doesn’t stop caravans – Mar 29, 2019 “It would be so easy to fix our weak and very stupid Democrat inspired immigration laws,” Trump tweeted Saturday. “In less than one hour, and then a vote, the problem would be solved. But the Dems don’t care about the crime, they don’t want any victory for Trump and the Republicans, even if good for USA!′ As far as Mexico’s role, he tweeted: “Mexico must use its very strong immigration laws to stop the many thousands of people trying to get into the USA. Our detention areas are maxed out & we will take no more illegals. Next step is to close the Border! This will also help us with stopping the Drug flow from Mexico!” Story continues below advertisement When reporters asked Trump on Friday what closing the border could entail, he said “it could mean all trade” with Mexico and added, “We will close it for a long time.” READ MORE: Donald Trump renews threats to close Mexico border over surge in asylum seekers Trump has been promising for more than two years to build a long, impenetrable wall along the border to stop illegal immigration, though Congress has been reluctant to provide the money he needs. In the meantime, he has repeatedly threatened to close the border, but this time, with a new group of migrants heading north , he gave a definite timetable and suggested a visit to the border within the next two weeks. A substantial closure could have an especially heavy impact on cross-border communities from San Diego to South Texas, as well as supermarkets that sell Mexican produce, factories that rely on imported parts, and other businesses across the U.S. The U.S. and Mexico trade about $1.7 billion in goods daily, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which said closing the border would be “an unmitigated economic debacle” that would threaten 5 million American jobs. WATCH: Border issue ‘politicized’ in US, challenges moving forward says PM 2:26 Border issue ‘politicized’ in US, challenges moving forward says PM Border issue ‘politicized’ in US, challenges moving forward says PM – Mar 21, 2019 Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke out Saturday against cutting off aid to Central America, declaring that “foreign assistance is not charity; it advances our strategic interests and funds initiatives that protect American citizens.” Story continues below advertisement And a group of House Democrats visiting El Salvador denounced the administration’s decision to cut aid to the region. “As we visit El Salvador evaluating the importance of U.S. assistance to Central America to address the root causes of family and child migration, we are extremely disappointed to learn that President Trump intends to cut off aid to the region,” said the statement from five lawmakers, including Rep. Eliot L. Engel of New York, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “The President’s approach is entirely counterproductive.” The Trump administration has threatened before to scale back or cut off U.S. assistance to Central America. Congress has not approved most of those proposed cuts, however, and a report this year by the Congressional Research Service said any change in that funding would depend on what Congress does. Short of a widespread border shutdown, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the U.S. might close designated ports of entry to re-deploy staff to help process parents and children. Ports of entry are official crossing points that are used by residents and commercial vehicles. Many people who cross the border illegally ultimately request asylum under U.S. law, which does not require asylum seekers to enter at an official crossing. Border officials are also planning to more than quadruple the number of asylum seekers sent back over the border to wait out their immigration cases, said an administration official. The official said right now about 60 migrants per day are returned and officials are hoping to send as many as 300 per day. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about internal plans and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Story continues below advertisement WATCH: Trump vetoes bipartisan resolution that blocked his national emergency 7:25 Trump vetoes bipartisan resolution that blocked his national emergency Trump vetoes bipartisan resolution that blocked his national emergency – Mar 15, 2019 Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Friday his country was doing its part to fight migrant smuggling. Criminal networks charge thousands of dollars a person to move migrants through Mexico, increasingly in large groups toward remote sections of the border. “We want to have a good relationship with the government of the United States,” Lopez Obrador said. He added: “We are going to continue helping so that the migratory flow, those who pass through our country, do so according to the law, in an orderly way.” Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s foreign relations secretary, tweeted that his country “doesn’t act based on threats” and is “the best neighbour” the U.S. could have. Story continues below advertisement Alejandra Mier y Teran, executive director of the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce in San Diego, said the mere threat of border closures sends the wrong message to businesses in Mexico and may eventually scare companies into turning to Asia for their supply chains. “I think the impact would be absolutely devastating on so many fronts,” said Mier y Teran, whose members rely on the Otay Mesa crossing to bring televisions, medical devices and a wide range of products to the U.S. “In terms of a long-term effect, it’s basically shooting yourself in your foot. It’s sending out a message to other countries that, ‘Don’t come because our borders may not work at any time.’ That is extremely scary and dangerous.” Merchant reported from Houston, Lucey from Washington. Associated Press writers Peter Orsi in Mexico City, Elliot Spagat in San Diego and Colleen Long, Catherine Lucey and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.<doc-sep>
Fox News apologized Sunday for a live “Fox & Friends” segment graphic that read, “Trump Cuts Aid to 3 Mexican Countries.” “We want to clarify and correct something that happened earlier in the show,” the apology read. “We had an inaccurate graphic on screen … we just want to be clear the funding is being cut off to three Central American countries. We apologize for the error, it never should have happened.” The headline appeared for 30 seconds during a discussion about punitive measures taken by President Trump to secure the U.S.-Mexico border. “I’ve ended payments to Guatemala, to Honduras and El Salvador. No more money is going there anymore,” Trump told reporters Friday. “We were giving them $500 million. We were paying them tremendous amounts of money, and we’re not paying them anymore because they haven’t done a thing for us.” “Fox & Friends headline” On Saturday, the State Department announced it was ending foreign assistance programs for the Northern Triangle, composed of three Latin American countries: El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The decision came a day after Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen signed a “historic regional compact with Central America to stem irregular migration at the source.” There has been a record-breaking surge of U.S.-bound migrants at the southern border as these countries face economic and social disorder. In February, a majority of the 76,000 migrants taken into U.S. custody were from Central America. When asked if ending U.S. aid to the Northern Triangle countries is counter-productive when addressing immigration, Acting White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” “There's a lot of good ways to help solve this problem.” “Congress could do it, but they're not going to. Mexico could help us do it. They need to do a little bit more. Honduras could do more. Nicaragua could do more. El Salvador could do more. And if we’re going to give these countries hundreds of millions of dollars, we would like them to do more.” Story continues Last month, Trump declared a national emergency to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, but Congress passed a resolution to nullify the declaration. Trump has since vetoed it, and the House failed to override the veto. Earlier this week, in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Trump said that aiming machine guns at undocumented immigrants would be a “very effective” deterrent — but vowed the United States would not use that method. “Mexico must use its very strong immigration laws to stop the many thousands of people trying to get into the USA,” Trump tweeted Saturday. “Our detention areas are maxed out & we will take no more illegals. Next step is to close the Border! This will also help us with stopping the Drug flow from Mexico!” Screenshots of Fox’s gaffe went viral on Twitter. I was today years old when I found out Mexico was 3 countries pic.twitter.com/gVQx9cppzS — Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) March 31, 2019 BREAKING: Trump cutting aid to 3 Mexican countries. (ht @blakehounshell) pic.twitter.com/5PEI4f7QIS — ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) March 31, 2019 Best part of this: none of the 3 countries were Mexico. https://t.co/XVGAMlhjOh — Mike P. "Ontario Dad" Moffatt 🇨🇦🏅🏅 (@MikePMoffatt) March 31, 2019 FOX NEWS: "Trump cuts U.S. aid to 3 Mexican countries." I have nothing to add. https://t.co/xdeluRtMxd — Peter Daou (@peterdaou) March 31, 2019 _____ Read more from Yahoo News: