Despite repeatedly saying “everything is on the table” with regards to stopping caravan migrants from entering the U.S., Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said troops won’t be shooting at them. (RELATED: Second Caravan Of Migrants Heading Towards US)
Honduran migrants taking part in a new caravan heading to the US, arrive to Chiquimula, Guatemala, on October 22, 2018. – US President Donald Trump on Monday called the migrant caravan heading toward the US-Mexico border a national emergency, saying he has alerted the US border patrol and military. ORLANDO ESTRADA/AFP/Getty Images
“We do not have any intention right now to shoot at people, but they will be apprehended, however,” Nielsen told Fox News host Martha MacCallum. “But I also take my officer and agent, their own person safety, extraordinarily seriously. They do have the ability of force to defend themselves.” (RELATED: Pence: Honduran President Says Venezuela Funding Migrant Caravan)
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When pressed by host MacCullum if the Army would return fire if migrants shot at them, Nielsen was less than unequivocal, explaining that the rules of engagement were not clear yet and that the Department of Homeland Security along with the Department of Defense was “working them out.”
“What we’ve asked them to do is help to bolster our capabilities,” she said. “We’ve asked for some air support, for some logistics, some planning, vehicle barriers, engineering, ways in which we can make sure that I can protect my officers and agents as well as the ports of entries themselves.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen speaks at The Association Of The U.S. Army Annual Meeting on October 9, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Nielsen was adamant, however, that migrants “will not be allowed in [to the U.S.].”
When asked if she agreed that foreign aid should be cut-off for those countries providing the migrant population as President Donald Trump promised in a tweet this week, Nielsen repeated that “everything is on the table.”
When asked about the presence of MS-13 gang members in the caravan, Nielsen said she couldn’t say “who exactly” was traveling with the group but she confirmed that “criminals and gang members are part of the flow” of migrants attempting to enter the US on a regular basis and that “not all people are seeking asylum” when they come to our borders.
