Pence: Leftist Groups, Venezuela Funding Migrant Caravan Including Middle East Element

Vice President Mike Pence speaks following a ceremony signing the "America's Water Infrast
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
Michelle Moons
Washington, DC

Vice President Mike Pence joined President Donald Trump in informing the world Tuesday that the President of Honduras had informed him leftist groups partially funded by Venezuela and dangerous human traffickers were organizing the massive Central American migrant caravan to the United States.

Pence stood beside President Trump and others in the Oval Office as he recounted his call with Honduran President Juan Hernández at the early stage of the caravan, and Pence was told the caravan had been organized by these leftists groups in Honduras, financed in part by Venezuela and organized by human traffickers with no regard for human life. He said he made the call at President Trump’s direction.

He then recounted a conversation with President of Guatemala Jimmy Morales who told the American Vice President they were already bussing elderly and vulnerable people who had been abandoned on the side of the road by the caravan back to Guatemala. 

“People need to understand, the people that are driving this caravan north, to challenge our sovereignty, to challenge our borders, are doing so without any regard for human life,” Pence told the media. He said some were doing so to advance political aims and others for purely financial profit.

He said President Trump was working with Mexico to try to turn people back, as well as with Congress.

President Trump broke in to say that they need to change the laws to adjust for this “different time” in history. He said they have to have the southern border wall quickly.

Trump spoke of how unfair this was to the millions of people who have gone through the legal process to come to the United States. 

Estimates put the caravan of migrants traveling from Central America up to the U.S. at upwards of 7,000 people. Pence said the U.S. intervenes and intercepts on average of ten suspected terrorists from entering the United States every day, thus “It is inconceivable that there would not be individuals from the Middle East as a part of this growing caravan.”

DHS Press Secretary Tyler Houlton confirmed Tuesday afternoon, “There are individuals within the caravan who are gang members or have significant criminal histories.”

Pence Press Secretary Alyssa Farah told Breitbart News:

In 2017 alone the U.S. apprehended on average 10 suspected terrorists a day attempting to enter the country illegally. And those are just the ones that we catch. It’s inconceivable that this caravan – which is being broadcast around the globe –  hasn’t already been infiltrated by individuals with ties to extremism. This is not complicated: this is an affront to our sovereignty, an exploitation of our laws and generosity, and those who seek to normalize or sugar-coat this tactic do so risking national security and sovereignty.

Pence went on to stress the human traffickers and other bad actors who entice vulnerable families to make the dangerous journey north.

President Trump told reporters that he had spoken to Border Patrol Monday night about the many people from terrorist groups including ISIS that they have intercepted while those people were attempting to enter the United States.

Michelle Moons is a White House Correspondent for Breitbart News — follow on Twitter @MichelleDiana and Facebook

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