On Thursday, President Donald Trump once again defended his proposal for a border wall, this time warning about yet another caravan forming in Honduras. He said this band of migrants was “bigger than anything we’ve seen,” and the only thing that can stop it is a “nice powerful wall.”
“By the way, here’s the story, there is another major caravan forming right now in Honduras,” the president said. “And so far we’re trying to break it up. But so far, it’s bigger than anything we’ve seen.”
He argued that “a drone isn’t going to stop it. And a sensor isn’t going to stop it. But you know what’s going to stop it in its tracks? A nice powerful wall.”
President Trump may or may not be correct that the only force able to stop such a caravan is a wall, but many news outlets have reported that this massive group of migrants is forming in Honduras, and Mexico has officially begun preparations to face it.
On Sunday, Britain’s Express newspaper reported the 15,000-strong caravan is the largest migrant group yet. Its destination may be Mexico rather than the United States, but the caravan has indeed been forming in Honduras, just as Trump claimed. Newsweek had the story right around Christmas.
Even so, The Washington Post‘s Kevin Sieff tweeted that the caravan “literally does not exist yet beyond a flyer circulating on Facebook.”
Trump just said that the migrant caravan forming in Honduras is "bigger than anything we’ve ever seen." It literally does not exist yet beyond a flyer circulating on Facebook.
— Kevin Sieff (@ksieff) January 10, 2019
While the caravan may not have yet fully formed, Mexican news outlets and authorities are taking it very seriously. The current status of the caravan remains unclear, but the efforts of Mexican authorities to prepare for an onslaught of new migrants suggests the threat is real.
So the Mexican outlets and activists predicting a 15,000 caravan, and the Mexican government which is actively preparing for a massive influx of migrants, are all wrong? Is Trump wrong to take their predictions seriously? https://t.co/cj5jh8jr8M
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) January 10, 2019
Earlier in Trump’s remarks, the president chided the media as being in league with the Democrats. “Look, look, you can all play cute and I say 80 percent of you are possibly in cooperation with the opposition party. I mean, the whole thing is ridiculous. All you have to do is look at the borders. Rent a helicopter — except you don’t want to know the truth — and watch,” he said.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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