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President Donald Trump threatened Thursday to double tariffs on Mexico if authorities don’t stop what he called “huge CARAVANS” of migrants heading to the border with the United States.

The warning merges two of the president’s favorite issues — immigration and tariffs — as he regroups after the Republican Party’s historic losses in last week’s midterm elections.

Exit polls have shown that while the president is largely unpopular, his intense crackdown on immigration is not the main reason why voters have gone to Democrats. High prices, however, are a major election concern, and they risk being pushed up by new tariffs, which are taxes on imports.

Trump has long warned of migrant caravans at times of political peril for him, including in the run-up to the 2018 midterm elections, in which Republicans lost control of the House.

“With the Republicans’ perceived loss in the midterms – I WAS NOT ON THE BALLOT – the INVASION of our country is taking place again,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Huge CARAVANS form and begin their illegal march across Mexico. »

Groups of immigrants traveling together are not uncommon in Mexico, where threats from criminal gangs can be a major concern. Reuters, citing regional government information, reported on Wednesday that a caravan of about 1,500 people, including many families, left north on Tuesday from a town near the Mexico-Guatemala border. One of the people walking north told Reuters he hoped that with Democrats in power – including as governor of Texas – a new, more lenient immigration policy would take hold in the United States. Representatives of the group said they had initially planned to walk to Mexico City, a journey lasting several weeks, to seek help from the Mexican government.

“MEXICO MUST STOP THEM NOW, and if they don’t, the tariffs on Mexico will be IMMEDIATELY DOUBLED. MEXICO, THE GOVERNOR OF TEXAS, THE VERY LIBERAL NEW GOVERNOR OF TEXAS, OUR GREAT BORDER PATROL AND ICE, HAVE BEEN INFORMED. There will be no clemency!” Trump wrote.

Trump last week named the principal architect of his immigration campaign, Stephen Miller, as chief of staff, suggesting he will double down on migration policy during his final two years in office.