Tag: Central Park

Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump, in a series of tweets on Monday, claimed he would declare a "national emergency" over an issue that has frequently piqued his attention -- migrant caravans moving toward the United States through Central America and Mexico. The President, in his tweets, also made several questionable claims concerning immigration and the caravan. Among them: that "unknown Middle Easterners" are "mixed" in with the caravan, that he would be cutting off foreign aid over the caravan, and that Mexican authorities failed to stop migrants from coming into Mexico. Asked later Monday about his assertion about "unknown Middle Easterners" in the caravan, Trump said: "Unfortunately, they have a lot of everybody in that group." A senior counterterrorism official told CNN's Jessica Schneider that "while we acknowledge there are vulnerabilities at both our northern and southern border, we do not see any evidence that ISIS or other Sunni terrorist groups are trying to infiltrate the southern US border." During a White House conference call with surrogates regarding the caravan, a Homeland Security official said the administration is looking into a claim from Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales that his country has been able to capture around 100 terrorists. However, the official did not offer any evidence of the Middle Eastern people who Trump claims are hiding among migrants in the caravan. Pressed about the President's assertion that there are "unknown Middle Easterners" mixed in with the caravan, a State Department spokesperson said they understand there are several nationalities in the caravan and referred us to Department of Homeland Security for more information. Under the Trump administration, and with the approval of the Republican-controlled Congress, there have already been significant cuts to foreign aid to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras -- the three countries he mentioned Monday -- and the administration plans to continue making cuts in fiscal year 2019. Trump tweeted Monday that "Mexico's Police and Military are unable to stop the Caravan heading to the Southern Border of the United States."