Trump intensifies his rhetoric against the migrant caravan

Despite the president's urgent tone, the migrant caravan is still about 1,000 miles away. And the majority of its members – estimated at around 4,000 people, followed by other smaller groups – would be women and children. Many of them are supposed to come before the authorities to ask for asylum and not to escape the capture.

Trump spent much of his speech condemning the "release", the practice of letting immigrants who have sought asylum in the United States while waiting for a procedure to take place. Asylum, provided that they demonstrate a "credible fear" of returning home. countries.

Trump said the migrants would no longer be released after their arrest, but it is unclear whether his edict has the force of politics. He did not explain how his administration would fare beyond pitching tents. "We have thousands of tents. We have a lot of tents. We have a lot of everything. We will retain them here, "he said. He falsely claimed that immigrants are deliberately missing scheduled hearings after their release. According to a study by the American Immigration Council, over a 15-year period, 96% of asylum-seeking families have presented themselves at their hearings before the Immigration Court.

Trump's speech was preceded by a press release from the Department of Homeland Security condemning "the flaws in the system", referring to the existing laws on asylum and the Flores settlement agreement, which limits the duration detention of children in detention. The ministry cited these so-called flaws as a reason for "a dramatic transformation of the population of those seeking to enter our country illegally".

Indeed, there have been changes in the migrant population: during the fiscal year 2018, 56% of apprehended people at the southern border came from Central America, according to data from the EDS . In 2010, it was 10%. The deterioration of the situation in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala has contributed to the rise of migrants from the region to the US-Mexico border.

Trump's speech on Thursday was the latest in a major administration effort to limit asylum. Earlier this year, Attorney General Jeff Sessions significantly reduced what the government considers to be grounds for asylum, barring victims of family violence and gang-related violence from access to protection. "The asylum has never been designed to solve all the problems, even serious ones, that people face every day in the world," he said in a June speech.

His remarks also followed the deployment of thousands of National Guard soldiers on active duty at the US-Mexico border. Trump repeatedly cited the presence of the army as a warning to those on the border, raising questions about whether the troops would be used as a political tool in anticipation of next week's elections. Defense Secretary James Mattis denies.