+ 
+ PEDRO PARDO/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES
+ + A migrant caravan headed north Monday from Tapachula, Mexico, + where members had stopped after crossing in from Guatemala. +
++
+ U.S. Sends Mixed Signs on Killing and Arab Ally +
+ ++ WASHINGTON — The Trump + administration, confronted with + further evidence of a cover-up in + the killing of the journalist Jamal + Khashoggi, veered on Monday between + defending the value of its + alliance with Saudi Arabia and + pressing the Saudi government + for answers. +
++ The White House sent the director + of the C.I.A., Gina Haspel, to Istanbul + to help the Turkish government + with its investigation into + the killing, according to an official. + But in Riyadh, Treasury Secretary + Steven Mnuchin held a wide-ranging + meeting with Saudi Arabia’s + crown prince, Mohammed bin + Salman, who is suspected of playing + a role in the killing of Mr. + Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident. +
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+ +
+ +
+ + Aids Khashoggi Inquiry + as Saudi Prince Sits + With Mnuchin +
+ ++
+ +
+ +
+ Mr. Mnuchin, who canceled his + attendance at this week’s Saudi investment + conference in the wake + of Mr. Khashoggi’s killing at the + Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, + traded views with Prince Mohammed + on economic ties and counterterrorism + initiatives, as well as + on the investigation into Mr. + Khashoggi’s death, according to a + Treasury Department spokesman. + There are also fresh doubts + about the Saudi government’s + claim that Mr. Khashoggi was + strangled accidentally after he got + into a fist fight with 15 Saudi operatives, + with video of a body double + surfacing on Monday. A Saudi operative + donned Mr. Khashoggi’s + clothes after he was killed and left + the building to create a misleading + trail of evidence, surveillance images + leaked by Turkey show. + “I am not satisfied with what I + have heard,” President Trump + said to reporters before flying to a + rally in Texas. +
+
+ Administration
+ Weighs Actions
+ To Plug Border
+
+
+ + +
+ Reviewing a New Form
+ of Family Separation
+
+
+ +
+
+ This article is by Miriam Jordan, + Caitlin Dickerson andMichael D. + Shear. +
++
+ TUCSON — The Trump administration, + facing a surge in migrant + families entering the United + States, is moving swiftly to examine + an array of new policies it + hopes will deter Central Americans + from journeying north. +
++ Each of the policies, which + range from a new form of the + widely criticized practice of family + separation to stricter requirements + on asylum, would face significant + legal and logistical challenges. + But the White House is applying + strong pressure on federal + immigration authorities to come + up with a solution to secure the + southwest border. +
++ The Border Patrol apprehended + 16,658 people in family units in + September — a record figure, according + to unpublished government + data obtained by The New + York Times. The total number of + families that entered the country + in the 2018 fiscal year, which + ended Sept. 30, exceeded 100,000 + for the first time in recent history. + The surge is occurring even as + the total number of border crossings, + including individual adults + and children traveling alone, remains + well below the numbers + seen in the late 1990s and early + 2000s. +
++ President Trump’s frustration + was aroused again this week with + the news that a caravan of thousands + of Central American asylum + seekers was headed toward + the United States. He threatened + on Twitter to call up the military + and close the southern border if + Mexico failed to halt the “onslaught” + of migrants. +
++ A series of intense closed-door + meetings among officials from the + Department of Homeland Security, + the Justice Department, the + White House and the State Department + began not long after a + public outcry forced President + Trump in June to stop separating + migrant families in detention, often + hundreds or thousands of miles apart, + as a deterrent. +
++ The architects of the family separation + approach have been hard + at work on alternatives, according + to people briefed on the group’s efforts. + Their goal is to announce a + plan before the November elec- +
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+ Continued on Page A14 +
++ TRUMP ESCALATES + USE OF MIGRANTS + AS ELECTION PLOY +
+ ++ +
+ ISSUING DARK WARNINGS +
+ ++ +
+ Stoking Voters’ Anxiety + With Baseless Tale of + Ominous Caravan +
+ ++
+ By ALEXANDER BURNS + and ASTEAD W. HERNDON +
+ ++ President Trump on Monday + sharply intensified a Republican + campaign to frame the midterm + elections as a battle over immigration + and race, issuing a dark and + factually baseless warning that + “unknown Middle Easterners” + were marching toward the American + border with Mexico. +
++ The unsubstantiated charge + was an escalation of Mr. Trump’s + efforts to stoke fears about foreigners + and crime ahead of the + Nov. 6 vote, as he did to great effect + in the presidential race. Mr. + Trump and other Republicans are + insistently seeking to tie Democrats + to unfettered immigration + and violent crime, and in some instances + this summer and fall they + have attacked minority candidates + in nakedly racial terms. +
++ Mr. Trump is now railing daily + in speeches and on Twitter + against the migrant caravan moving + north through Central America, + and on Monday called it a national + emergency. The caravan + has dominated conservative talk + radio and Fox News, where there + has also been loose speculation + about a link to terrorism. The apparently + groundless inclusion of + “unknown Middle Easterners” to + the caravan echoes Mr. Trump’s + longstanding practice of amplifying + fears about Islamic militants + on the campaign trail. +
++ “That is an assault on our country + and in that caravan you have + some very bad people and we + can’t let that happen to our country,” + the president said at a rally in + Houston on Monday night. Mr. + Trump suggested without any + proof that the opposition was involved + in instigating the caravan. + “I think the Democrats had something + to do with it,” he said. +
++ In targeting the caravan, the + president appears determined to + end the election season with a cultural + fight over national identity + rather than the issues that party + leaders initially wanted to run on, +
++
+ Continued on Page A16 +
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