Reports: Pentagon to Deploy 800 US Troops to Border With Mexico to Stop Migrants

15:16 GMT, 25 October 2018

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Department of Defense plans to send at least 800 US troops to the southern border to help Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents block a caravan of Central American migrants from entering the United States, CNN reported on Thursday.

Sputnik

Secretary of Defense James Mattis is expected to approve the deployment order today, CNN reported, citing three administration officials.

Earlier in the day, the Mexican Interior Ministry and Defense Ministry issued a statement, saying that around 1,750 people had asked the Mexican authorities for asylum. Additionally, another 116 people had agreed to return to their home countries and had been temporarily placed in the sites for asylum seekers.

Migrant Caravan Shows the Crisis Has Been Building in US – Scholar

24 October 2018, 18:07 GMT

In an attempt to influence the authorities of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala and make them deal with the migrant flow, US President Donal Trump vowed last week to cut off US aid to the countries.

Later on, Trump accused Mexico of failing to stop the caravan of mostly Honduran migrants, seeking to settle in the United States, from approaching the US border. The president also suggested that there were criminals and "unknown Middle Easterners" in the caravan and pledged to send as many troops as necessary to the US southern border, calling the situation a national emergency.