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Trump: US to 'begin cutting off' aid to countries associated with migrant caravan | TheHill

posted onOctober 23, 2018
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Article snippet: 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. 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!" 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... Link to the full article to read more

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