1 00:00:02,500 --> 00:00:05,366 JUDY WOODRUFF: They are on a long and difficult trek, thousands of Central American migrants, 2 00:00:06,733 --> 00:00:08,866 making their way, as a group, to the United States. 3 00:00:08,866 --> 00:00:13,433 The caravan, pausing for rest today in Huixtla, Mexico, has suddenly become the subject of 4 00:00:14,300 --> 00:00:16,366 heated political rhetoric here. 5 00:00:16,366 --> 00:00:21,066 But, first, a look at who's traveling in the caravan, and why, from Amna Nawaz. 6 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:27,133 AMNA NAWAZ: In the southern Mexican city of Tapachula, more than 7,000 migrants, mostly 7 00:00:28,566 --> 00:00:31,366 Honduran, woke this morning to continue the journey north. 8 00:00:31,366 --> 00:00:36,000 ELSA ROMERO, Migrant (through translator): When we heard the caravan was coming, we joined. 9 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:38,400 This is an opportunity to improve my family's life. 10 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:42,733 AMNA NAWAZ: Reuters reporter Delphine Schrank is traveling with the group, and describes 11 00:00:42,733 --> 00:00:45,600 it as less of a caravan and more of an exodus. 12 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:47,600 DELPHINE SCHRANK, Reuters: It's a real mixture. 13 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:52,366 I mean, the majority are fairly young, but it's a complete mixture of men, women, lots 14 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,266 of children, people of various ages. 15 00:00:58,266 --> 00:01:02,866 AMNA NAWAZ: Caravans like this have been organized for more than a decade, a group migration 16 00:01:02,866 --> 00:01:07,866 built on the principle of safety in numbers, and helped along the way by nonprofits like 17 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:12,200 Pueblo Sin Fronteras. 18 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:16,800 Earlier this spring, a smaller caravan of around 1,500 left Southern Mexico. 19 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:20,766 Only a few hundred ultimately sought asylum in the U.S. 20 00:01:20,766 --> 00:01:25,033 Schrank says this group came together much more spontaneously, and that the migrants 21 00:01:25,033 --> 00:01:28,700 she's talked to are more concerned with what they're leaving than where they end up. 22 00:01:28,700 --> 00:01:33,700 DELPHINE SCHRANK: Over and over, I have heard from dozens of migrants who say the same thing, 23 00:01:35,766 --> 00:01:38,833 that no matter how cruel or how difficult the welcome is at the United States border, 24 00:01:41,366 --> 00:01:45,866 the overwhelming need they feel to flee a toxic mixture of violence, corruption, unemployment, 25 00:01:47,966 --> 00:01:52,466 political failure, as they see it, in Honduras really is what weighs most upon their minds. 26 00:01:54,933 --> 00:01:58,966 AMNA NAWAZ: President Trump's escalating rhetoric, like at this Texas rally last night, has brought 27 00:02:01,533 --> 00:02:03,966 this year's caravans to the forefront of the immigration debate, two weeks ahead of midterm elections. 28 00:02:05,866 --> 00:02:08,933 DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: You know, what's happening right now, as a 29 00:02:08,933 --> 00:02:10,966 large group of people -- they call it a caravan. 30 00:02:10,966 --> 00:02:15,466 I think the Democrats had something to do with it, and now they're saying, I think we 31 00:02:16,866 --> 00:02:21,700 made a big mistake, because people are seeing how bad it is. 32 00:02:21,700 --> 00:02:26,700 AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, the migrants continue their journey, mostly on foot, and now over 33 00:02:28,066 --> 00:02:30,566 1,000 miles from the nearest U.S. border crossing. 34 00:02:30,566 --> 00:02:34,366 Picking it up from there to discuss some of the rhetoric and policy surrounding all of 35 00:02:34,366 --> 00:02:36,133 this is Alan Gomez. 36 00:02:36,133 --> 00:02:39,333 He's an immigration reporter for USA Today. 37 00:02:39,333 --> 00:02:41,066 Alan Gomez, welcome back to the "NewsHour." 38 00:02:41,066 --> 00:02:43,133 We heard the president there in Texas last night. 39 00:02:43,133 --> 00:02:47,066 But I want to ask you about something he said earlier today in the Oval Office. 40 00:02:47,066 --> 00:02:50,566 He was asked about a couple allegations he had made about the caravan. 41 00:02:50,566 --> 00:02:55,533 He has said there are members of the gang MS-13 and, as he put it, Middle Easterners 42 00:02:56,433 --> 00:02:58,100 traveling in the caravan. 43 00:02:58,100 --> 00:03:00,466 Here's what the president said earlier today. 44 00:03:00,466 --> 00:03:04,466 DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Certainly, you have people coming up through 45 00:03:04,466 --> 00:03:09,466 the southern border from the Middle East and other places that are not appropriate for 46 00:03:10,666 --> 00:03:13,433 our country, and I'm not letting them in. 47 00:03:13,433 --> 00:03:14,433 They're not coming in. 48 00:03:14,433 --> 00:03:15,433 All right? 49 00:03:15,433 --> 00:03:16,666 They're not coming in. 50 00:03:16,666 --> 00:03:17,533 We're going to do whatever we have to. 51 00:03:17,533 --> 00:03:19,633 They're not coming in. 52 00:03:19,633 --> 00:03:22,166 AMNA NAWAZ: Alan Gomez, what do you make about what the president is alleging there? 53 00:03:22,166 --> 00:03:24,233 Is there any validity to that claim? 54 00:03:24,233 --> 00:03:28,466 ALAN GOMEZ, USA Today: Not that his administration can point to as of yet. 55 00:03:28,466 --> 00:03:31,533 We have been asking the Department of Homeland Security ever since he started making those 56 00:03:31,533 --> 00:03:36,533 claims in a series of tweets where the proof was that there were members of gangs, criminals, 57 00:03:38,766 --> 00:03:42,700 as he refers to them generally as Middle Easterners, in the group, and they haven't been able to 58 00:03:42,700 --> 00:03:45,900 point to any examples or any proof that anybody exists. 59 00:03:45,900 --> 00:03:49,266 Instead, what they're doing is they're falling back is, they're falling back on percentages. 60 00:03:49,266 --> 00:03:54,266 They have been passing out data of the number of criminals, gang members and people from 61 00:03:56,233 --> 00:03:58,733 - - quote -- "special interest countries" who have been caught trying to cross the border 62 00:03:58,733 --> 00:04:01,300 illegally over the past year. 63 00:04:01,300 --> 00:04:05,033 When you put those numbers into context, it shows that about 5 percent of people caught 64 00:04:05,033 --> 00:04:08,833 along the border are -- have some kind of criminal background. 65 00:04:08,833 --> 00:04:13,833 About 0.3 percent are gang members, and about 0.8 percent come from special interest countries 66 00:04:14,933 --> 00:04:17,900 that include some Middle Eastern countries. 67 00:04:17,900 --> 00:04:21,900 But -- so, they're saying the numbers indicate that there has to be in that group. 68 00:04:21,900 --> 00:04:26,900 And Vice President Pence made that same claim that, if you look at the size of this, there 69 00:04:28,100 --> 00:04:30,700 just has to be some of those folks in there. 70 00:04:30,700 --> 00:04:34,000 In the last hour, we have heard from the Department of Homeland Security that they are confirming 71 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:37,366 that there are some criminals and some Middle Easterners in there. 72 00:04:37,366 --> 00:04:40,000 We followed up with them, but haven't heard anything back. 73 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:44,100 AMNA NAWAZ: You know, the president's focus on this specific caravan has elevated it substantially. 74 00:04:45,566 --> 00:04:48,800 There's been caravans in the past, one earlier this year. 75 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:53,333 You know, in the entire immigration landscape, which you cover so deeply, why has this one 76 00:04:53,333 --> 00:04:56,533 event caught the president's attention so strongly? 77 00:04:56,533 --> 00:04:58,600 ALAN GOMEZ: Timing. 78 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:03,500 We're just about two weeks away from the election, and basically this falls into his rhetoric 79 00:05:04,133 --> 00:05:06,266 so perfectly. 80 00:05:06,266 --> 00:05:11,133 He's basically taken a page out of his 2016 presidential campaign, and just riling up 81 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:14,100 on immigration right now. 82 00:05:14,100 --> 00:05:17,766 This is an issue that the 2016 election proved is one that will rile up his base, is one 83 00:05:19,433 --> 00:05:22,400 that appeals to them, is one that interests them, is one that scares them. 84 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:26,466 And so the timing of this, the idea that, for the next two weeks, because this caravan 85 00:05:26,466 --> 00:05:27,766 will -- it's a slow march. 86 00:05:27,766 --> 00:05:29,266 They're walking. 87 00:05:29,266 --> 00:05:31,300 They're still well over 1,000 miles away from the border. 88 00:05:31,300 --> 00:05:35,966 The fact that these images will be aired on TV repeatedly for these next two weeks is 89 00:05:37,833 --> 00:05:41,633 perfect for him, because it shows this idea of an invasion, as he likes to call it. 90 00:05:41,633 --> 00:05:46,600 I have been watching congressional debates around the country in House districts in small 91 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:51,600 - - in states like Idaho and Iowa and Minnesota and Pittsburgh in the Northeast. 92 00:05:53,900 --> 00:05:56,666 You hear this Honduran caravan coming up repeatedly, because it's something that Republicans realize 93 00:05:56,666 --> 00:05:58,500 is something that can energize their base. 94 00:05:58,500 --> 00:06:00,700 (CROSSTALK) 95 00:06:00,700 --> 00:06:02,333 AMNA NAWAZ: Alan Gomez of USA Today, who covers immigration there, we're going to have to 96 00:06:02,333 --> 00:06:03,500 leave it there. 97 00:06:03,500 --> 00:06:04,400 Thank you very much for your time.