The caravan of Central American migrants trying to reach the US has grown to 4,000 — and Trump is threatening to have the military 'close' the border

President Donald Trump has been lashing out for days at the Honduran government, where the caravan originated; the US immigration system; and congressional Democrats — each of whom he has blamed for the mass group of immigrants.

On Thursday he fired off several angry tweets, threatening to have the military "close" the border and demanding Mexico prevent the group from traveling any further.

"I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught - and if unable to do so I will call up the U.S. Military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!" he tweeted.

Here's a glimpse of the group on their trek northwards:

The caravan originally set out as a group of roughly 160 from the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, known as one of the most violent cities in the world.

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Their numbers quickly swelled to at least 1,600 before crossing the Guatemalan border, though some news reports have estimated that as many as 3,000 may have joined the caravan by Tuesday.

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Trump grew enraged at the news, demanding that the Honduran government stop the caravan and take back its citizens. "The United States has strongly informed the President of Honduras that if the large Caravan of people heading to the U.S. is not stopped and brought back to Honduras, no more money or aid will be given to Honduras, effective immediately!" he tweeted.

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But it's unclear what actions the Honduran government can take now that the caravan has reportedly doubled in size, and already crossed the Guatemalan border.

As the group grew larger, swelling to 4,000 by Thursday, Trump's anger only grew. He expanded his threat to withhold aid to each of the northern triangle countries, slamming the governments in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador and accusing them of doing "little to stop this large flow of people."

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Trump then pivoted his attention to Mexico, where the migrants will soon try to cross through, appearing to threaten trade relations. "The assault on our country at our Southern Border, including the Criminal elements and DRUGS pouring in, is far more important to me, as President, than Trade or the USMCA," he tweeted. "Hopefully Mexico will stop this onslaught at their Northern Border."

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Some of the migrants say they're fleeing violence in Honduras, where gangs proliferate through communities and homicide rates remain high, though they have dropped slightly in recent years.

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As one Honduran lawmaker pointed out on Twitter, "They are not seeking the American dream – they're fleeing the Honduran nightmare."

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Many migrants are making the trek for economic reasons, saying they're unable to feed their families or find work in Honduras. "Every day I earn about $5," Carlos Cortez, a 32-year-old Honduran farmer traveling with his seven-year-old son told the Associated Press. "That isn't enough to feed my family."

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Others, still, said Honduras' danger and its lack of available work were inextricable problems. "In Honduras there are no jobs, and the jobs that do exist aren't enough to live on," 32-year-old Honduran Jose Francisco Hernandez said. "We can't go to the city because it is full of gang members, and that is hurting us. We decided to migrate from the country to see if we can find a better life."

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Though Guatemalan authorities initially blocked migrants from entering, they eventually permitted the group to cross on Monday.

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During their crossing, they sang the Honduran national anthem and chanted "Yes, we can!"

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By that point, the group's numbers had swelled to beyond 1,600 — one estimate even pegged the number at 3,000 strong.

The caravan is now much larger than the one that partially entered the US in May. That caravan was organized by the activist group Pueblo Sin Frontera — People Without Borders — and had dwindled from a group of 1,000 to roughly 200 by the time they reached the US-Mexico border.

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Back then, the Trump administration had characterized the caravan as "an attack on the sovereignty of this nation." Regardless, many of the migrants who stayed with the caravan until the end of the journey made it into the US and were processed for asylum claims. It's unclear how many of those migrants will eventually win their cases and be permitted to stay in the US.

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But the Trump administration has been trying to convey to citizens of Central American countries that even if they reach the US, they likely will not be allowed to stay. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan told a group of indigenous leaders in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, last month that rumors they heard of guaranteed citizenship for families and pregnant women were false.

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"There's no ability to stay in the US if you bring a child with you," McAleenan said. "There's no ability to just stay if you are pregnant. But our court system is very slow, so you might actually have a false promise of being able to stay in the US for a year or two before you are repatriated."

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But that message may not have entirely gotten through. "We're going to drop in on Donald Trump. He has to take us in," one 24-year-old migrant, Andrea Fernandez, told Reuters. She said she left Honduras with her three young children because she couldn't find work, and feared for her children's safety.

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Though the Trump administration has had harsh words for the governments of Central American countries the migrants come from, it has condemned the US immigration system even more strongly. The caravan is "what we see day-in and day-out at the border as a result of well-advertised and well-known catch-and-release loopholes," Homeland Security spokeswoman Katie Waldman said in a statement.

"Until Congress acts, we will continue to have de-facto open borders that guarantees future 'caravans' and record numbers of family units entering the country illegally," Waldman added.

The caravan of Central American migrants trying to reach the US has grown to 4,000 — and Trump is threatening to have the military 'close' the border

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