WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump's stance on immigration (all times local):
12:55 p.m.
President Donald Trump is expected to announce plans to deny asylum to migrants who try to enter the U.S. illegally between ports of entry as part of his latest election season response to two caravans of migrants heading toward the U.S.-Mexico border.
That's according to three people familiar with the plans who spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly.
The White House announced earlier that the president would be making "brief remarks on the illegal immigration crisis" before he departs for a campaign rally in Missouri.
It's unclear whether the restrictions would apply only to those traveling in the caravans or would extend beyond the caravans to all people trying to enter the country.
The announcement comes as the president has sought to focus attention on immigration while trying to drum up GOP enthusiasm heading into next Tuesday's midterm elections.
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By Jill Colvin and Colleen Long.
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8:45 a.m.
Ahead of the midterm elections, President Donald Trump is tweeting a video alleging Democrats were responsible for allowing a convicted cop killer into the U.S. But he's providing no evidence supporting his claim.
The video is reminiscent of the infamous 1988 "Willie Horton" ad used against Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis and condemned as racist.
Trump highlighted the case of Luis Bracamontes, a twice-deported immigrant from Mexico sentenced to death in California for killing two police officers.
The spot includes expletives uttered by Bracamontes during his trial professing regret at not killing more officials.
The captioned reads: "Illegal immigrant, Luis Bracamontes, killed our people!" It adds: "Democrats let him into our country...Democrats let him stay."
The video includes scenes of a migrant "caravan," warning, "Who else would Democrats let in?" Trump provides no evidence linking Democrats to Bracamontes.
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12:50 a.m.
President Donald Trump says the number of military troops deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border could reach 15,000.
Trump said Wednesday "we'll go up to anywhere between 10 and 15,000 military personnel on top of Border Patrol, ICE and everybody else at the border."
Trump says the move would be aimed at preventing the entry of a caravan of migrants traveling from Central America. The caravan is moving on foot and is still nearly 1,000 miles from the border.
The troop numbers have changed at a dizzying pace, with Trump drawing a hard line on immigration in the lead-up to the midterm elections.
Last week officials indicated 800 to 1,000 troops might be sent. On Monday, they announced about 5,200 were being deployed. The next day an Air Force general rejected a news report it could reach 14,000.
Disclaimer: This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Associated Press (AP) wire.
