By Bo Erickson and Susan Heavey
WASHINGTON, Nov 12 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to double tariffs on Mexico if it does not stop more than a thousand migrants walking north toward the United States after last week’s US election, warning that they would not be allowed to enter.
“Here we go again!” Trump wrote on social media. “They will not be accepted! MEXICO MUST STOP THEM, NOW, and if they do not do so, the Tariffs on Mexico will be IMMEDIATELY DOUBLED. MEXICO, THE GOVERNOR OF TEXAS, THE VERY LIBERAL NEW GOVERNOR OF TEXAS, OUR GREAT BORDER PATROL, & ICE, HAVE BEEN SO INFORMED. There will be no leniency!”
The group of migrants, an estimated 1,500 people mostly from Central America, set off on Tuesday from the southern city of Tapachula near the Guatemala border, hoping Democrats’ victory in the US midterm election could open pathways for them to live and work in the United States.
There was no immediate response from Mexican government officials.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum was due to hold a news conference Thursday morning.
Trump’s threat about the caravan comes as the US and Mexico negotiate a trade deal, after he chose in July to not extend the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade pact.
The Trump administration’s tough immigration policies mostly stopped the flow of migrants to the US southern border, leaving many Mexican migrant shelters empty.
Trump was re-elected in 2024 in part over US voters’ concern about the border. Since then, the president has highlighted some migrant caravans but also said in recent months the issue has become less politically potent for him and his Republican party.
“I am sure the new governor is going to want to have security at the Texas border,” Trump told reporters after the November 3 midterm election, referencing the newly elected Texas governor, Democrat Gina Hinojosa.
Trump’s migrant warning also comes as Trump acknowledged political backlash from his administration’s deportation program through US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
On Sunday, Trump told CBS’ ’60 Minutes’ the deportation force had been “too tough” and that he was open to making an immigration deal with Democrats after they take control of the US Congress in January.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Bo Erickson in Washington; additional reporting by Paolo Laudani in Gdansk; editing by Doina Chiacu)
