Migrant caravans are assault on US: Mike Pence
US Vice President Mike Pence has said that the caravans of Central American migrants streaming towards the United States are like an assault on his country.
"You know it's never been more clear to Americans about the need for more border security, has it? We all watch the news. We all see this — another migrant caravan headed north," Pence said at a rally in Michigan Monday night.
"As President Trump made clear, this is nothing short of an assault on our country and we will not allow it,” he said.
US President Donald Trump has ratcheted up anti-migrant rhetoric ahead of crucial midterm congressional elections next week, calling the caravan of Central American migrants an "invasion."
A new group of migrants has left El Salvador to join other United States-bound caravans of Central Americans mostly fleeing poverty and violence in their home countries.
Democrats and rights activists have said Trump is drawing on xenophobic and racist images in an effort to stoke anti-immigrant concerns among voters ahead of Election Day.
The Pentagon announced on Monday it was deploying 5,200 active-duty troops to beef up security the country’s border with Mexico.
Pence lauded the Pentagon announcement, and said that the closest caravan is only leading its members into danger.
"This caravan was organized by leftist groups in Honduras and human traffickers who have no regard for human life," Pence said.
The vice president said that the Guatemalan president informed him that the caravan abandoned "the elderly and the infirm and vulnerable children" on the side of the road and Guatemala dispatched buses to help them.
"The truth is these human traffickers and organizations take advantage of loopholes in our laws to entice vulnerable families in the vain hope that they can come north and take the long and dangerous journey to come into our country illegally," Pence said.
Pence argued that the Democrats' "dangerous policies" are to blame.
"[T]he Democrats don't want to build a wall, they don't want to secure our border, they don't want to close those loopholes that human traffickers use to entice vulnerable families," he said.
The Trump administration has been under criticism over its “zero tolerance” immigration policy.
Nationwide protests have been held to denounce Trump’s crackdown against immigrants.
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