The White House shed light on the president’s remark that women in the immigrant caravan in Mexico “are raped at levels that nobody has ever seen before.”
WASHINGTON — The White House said Friday where President Donald Trump likely got the information that women in the immigrant caravan in Mexico “are raped at levels that nobody has ever seen before.” But the source they pointed to doesn’t back up the president’s Thursday statement .
Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Friday that the president was likely referring to a news report describing conditions that migrants — mostly from Honduras — have endured to flee their hometowns and journey north toward Mexico’s border with the United States.
“There was a story… I believe it was the LA Times, I don’t have it here in front of me, that documented some of that,” she told reporters at the White House briefing.
Central American migrants traveling in ‘caravan’
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Central American migrants traveling in ‘caravan’
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Central American migrants traveling in ‘caravan’
Central American migrants, part of a caravan moving through Mexico toward the U. S. border, gather at a makeshift centre of Mexico’s National Institute of Migration to register, in Matias Romero, Mexico April 4,2018.
(REUTERS/Henry Romero)
Central American migrants, part of a caravan moving through Mexico toward the U. S. border, are seen after spending the night at a sports centre in Matias Romero, Mexico April 5,2018.
(REUTERS/Henry Romero)
Central American migrants, part of a caravan moving through Mexico toward the U. S. border, sleep at a sports centre in Matias Romero, Mexico April 5,2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero
Central American migrants, part of a caravan moving through Mexico toward the U. S. border, sleep underneath a blanket at a sports field in Matias Romero, Mexico April 5,2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero
Central American migrants, part of a caravan moving through Mexico toward the U. S. border, board a bus bound to Puebla, in Matias Romero, Mexico April 5,2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero
Central American migrants, part of a caravan moving through Mexico toward the U. S. border, are seen on board a bus bound for Puebla, in Matias Romero, Mexico April 5,2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero
Central American migrants, part of a caravan moving through Mexico toward the U. S. border, walk to the bus station to take a bus bound for Puebla, in Matias Romero, Mexico April 5,2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero
Central American migrants, part of a caravan moving through Mexico toward the U. S. border, gather to board a bus bound for Puebla, in Matias Romero, Mexico April 5,2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero
A man from Honduras, part of a caravan of Central American migrants moving through Mexico toward the U. S. border, carries his belongings before taking a bus bound for Puebla, in Matias Romero, Mexico April 5,2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero
Central American migrants, part of a caravan moving through Mexico toward the U. S. border, walk to the bus station to take a bus bound for Puebla, in Matias Romero, Mexico April 5,2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero
Central American migrants, part of a caravan moving through Mexico toward the U. S. border, get ready to take a bus bound for Puebla, in Matias Romero, Mexico April 5,2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero
A Central American migrant, part of a caravan moving through Mexico toward the U. S. border, looks at a mobile phone while resting at a sports field in Matias Romero, Mexico April 4,2018. Picture taken April 4,2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero
A child, part of a caravan of Central American migrants moving through Mexico toward the U. S. border, peeks from underneath a blanket after waking up at a sports field in Matias Romero, Mexico April 5,2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero
Central American migrants, part of a caravan moving through Mexico toward the U. S. border, sleep at a sports centre in Matias Romero, Mexico April 5,2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero
Children, part of a caravan of Central American migrants moving through Mexico toward the U. S. border, sleep at a sports centre in Matias Romero, Mexico April 5,2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero
A Central American migrant, part of a caravan moving through Mexico toward the U. S. border, rest at a sports field, in Matias Romero, Mexico April 4,2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero
A Central American migrant, part of a caravan moving through Mexico toward the U. S. border, plays with a child at a sports field, in Matias Romero, Mexico April 4,2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero
A man stands near a boiling pot as Central American migrants, part of a caravan moving through Mexico toward the U. S. border, gather at a sports field, in Matias Romero, Mexico April 4,2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero
Central American migrants, part of a caravan moving through Mexico toward the U. S. border, rest at a sports field, in Matias Romero, Mexico April 4,2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero
Central American migrants, part of a caravan moving through Mexico toward the U. S. border, rest at a sports centre, in Matias Romero, Mexico April 4,2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero
Central American migrants, part of a caravan moving through Mexico toward the U. S. border, stand in line to register at a makeshift centre of Mexico’s National Institute of Migration, in Matias Romero, Mexico April 4,2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero
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The report referred to similar caravans organized around Easter in past years, and noted that “robberies, rapes and assaults — perpetrated by smugglers, cartel members and Mexican immigration agents — are common. In one incident in 2010,72 kidnapped migrants were killed by a cartel in northern Mexico.”
The report said nothing about rapes taking place in record numbers. In fact, it cited one woman who praised the men in the caravan for protecting her, noting it “has begun to feel a little like a family.”
Trump made his comments during a roundtable in White Sulphur Springs, W. V., billed as a tax policy discussion.
He has spent much of the week focused on tougher security measures along the U.
