President Trump on Tuesday acknowledged that he has no proof that people of Middle Eastern descent have joined a large migrant caravan moving toward the U.S.-Mexico border, tempering a claim he has made in recent days. 
 
 “There’s no proof of anything. But there could very well be,” Trump said in remarks in the Oval Office on Tuesday afternoon. 
 
 His remarks came after several administration officials, including Vice President Pence, sought to back up the president in the face of skepticism about his claim this week. 
 
 The president maintained that he has “very good information” from Border Patrol and other officials. 
 
 “They say it happens all the time from the Middle East,” Trump said. 
 
 Trump has faced criticism for suggesting it is problematic on its own that people from the Middle East might be part of the group of migrants and that they would therefore be terrorists. Asked about this in the Oval Office, Trump said Border Patrol officials have told him they have intercepted “all sorts of people” of Middle Eastern descent trying to enter the United States over the years. 
 
 “They’ve intercepted good ones and bad ones. They’ve intercepted wonderful people from the Middle East, and they’ve intercepted bad ones,” he said. 
 
 Trump first claimed in a tweet Monday that “Criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in” the caravan, which the president has pointed to repeatedly as he seeks to elevate immigration as an issue ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm elections. 
 
 When asked for evidence of his claim later Monday, Trump told a television reporter to “take your camera, go in the middle and search” the caravan, which originated in Honduras and includes mostly mothers and their children, based on what reporters have observed. 
 
 Asked while sitting for an interview at a Washington Post event Tuesday if he has evidence, Pence sought to back up his boss. 
 
 “It’s inconceivable that there are not people of Middle Eastern descent in a crowd of more than 7,000 people advancing toward our border,” the vice president said, asserting that “there are statistics on this.” 
 
 [The mystery of ‘unknown Middle Easterners’: Who is really in the migrant caravan?] 
 
 “In the last fiscal year, we apprehended more than 10 terrorists or suspected terrorists per day at our southern border from countries that are referred to in the lexicon as ‘other than Mexico.’ That means from the Middle East region,” Pence said. 
 
 He seemed to be referencing statistics shared by the Department of Homeland Security on Monday when asked by reporters for evidence to support Trump’s claim. 
 
 Those statistics, from fiscal 2017, were not specific to the U.S.-Mexico border and offer no proof that anyone in the current caravan is a Middle Easterner or terrorist. 
 
 DHS also told reporters Monday that Customs and Border Patrol agents had in fiscal 2018 “apprehended 17,256 criminals, 1,019 gang members, and 3,028 special interest aliens from countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Somalia.” None of the countries mentioned are in the Middle East. 
 
 In a statement after his remarks, a Pence spokeswoman made no mention of terrorists being stopped at the U.S.-Mexico border. 
 
 “In 2017 alone the U.S. apprehended on average between 10 suspected terrorists a day attempting to enter the country illegally,” said the spokeswoman, Alyssa Farah. “And those are just the ones we catch. It’s inconceivable that this caravan — which is being broadcast around the globe — hasn’t already been infiltrated with ties to extremism.” 
 
 A Department of Homeland Security spokesman tweeted Tuesday that the caravan includes people from all over the world. 
 
 “Citizens of countries outside Central America, including countries in the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, and elsewhere are currently traveling through Mexico toward the U.S.,” DHS spokesman Tyler Q. Houlton said in a tweet. 
 
 Houlton also tweeted that the department has confirmed that some migrants who are part of the caravan “are gang members or have significant criminal histories.” 
 
 Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also spoke about the caravan at a State Department news conference Tuesday evening, arguing that it presents a national security risk to the United States. 
 
 “There is no proper accounting of who these individuals in the caravan are,” Pompeo said, adding that the caravan “will not cross our southern border illegally under any circumstances.” 
 
 Pence spoke briefly about immigration during an appearance largely focused on the administration’s plans for a new branch of the military to be known as the Space Force. His interview was part of a larger program titled “Transformers: Space.” 
 
 During his remarks, Pence repeated Trump’s vow to stop the caravan before it reaches the U.S. border and blamed Democrats for the country’s immigration challenges. 
 
 “We’re going to do everything in our power to keep this caravan from coming north and violating our border,” Pence said. 
 
 In the Oval Office, Pence said that the president of Honduras told him that the caravan was organized by leftist groups and financed in part by Venezuela. 
 
 “And the Democrats? And the Democrats?” Trump asked, prompting laughter from those gathered in the office. The president has sought to tie the caravan to Democrats in his recent campaign trail remarks. 
 
 A moment later, when pressed by a reporter on the claim, he responded: “We’re going to find out about that.” ||||| Vice President Mike Pence speaks following a ceremony signing the "America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018" into law in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018. (AP... (Associated Press) 
 
 Vice President Mike Pence speaks following a ceremony signing the "America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018" into law in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence misstated federal statistics when trying to help President Donald Trump make the case that terrorists are among thousands of migrants moving through Mexico toward the U.S. border. Trump himself acknowledged he's got no proof terrorists are in the mix. 
 
 A look at their remarks: 
 
 PENCE: "In the last fiscal year, we apprehended more than 10 terrorists or suspected terrorists per day at our southern border from countries that are referred to in the lexicon as other than Mexico. That means from the Middle East region." — remarks at a Washington Post event. 
 
 THE FACTS: He misused information from the government. 
 
 U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested an average of 10 people a day in the 2017 budget year who were trying to enter the U.S. from countries with suspected links to terrorism, according to Pence's office. That average applies to all points of entry, not just the southern border. And the primary points of entry for people coming from overseas are airports, not the two borders. 
 
 Pence's office acknowledged his mistake. Pence cited the information accurately later, at an Oval Office bill signing by Trump. 
 
 ___ 
 
 TRUMP: "I spoke with Border Patrol this morning. ... They say that over the course of the year, over the course of many years, they have intercepted good and bad people, including people from the Middle East. There's no proof of anything." — remarks at Oval Office bill signing. 
 
 THE FACTS: He is correct that no information has been made public to support his previous claim that Middle Easterners, apparent code for Islamic extremists, have infiltrated the migrant caravan to reach the U.S. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had claimed there was evidence to back up his tweet. 
 
 The migrants participating in this caravan are mostly from Honduras, where it started, as well as El Salvador and Guatemala. On the whole they are poor, carrying the belongings that fit into a knapsack and fleeing gang violence or poverty. Given the sheer number of migrants, it's possible some are criminals — as Trump has also asserted. 
 
 Some migrants clashed with Mexican police at the Mexico-Guatemala border, hurling stones and other objects as they tried to cross the international bridge. Caravan leaders said they had expelled some troublemakers from the procession, exhibiting some self-policing. Ultimately, most entered Guatemala — and later, Mexico — by illegally bypassing immigration checkpoints. 
 
 The caravan otherwise has been overwhelmingly peaceful, receiving applause and donated food from residents of the towns they pass. Mexican police have not tried again to stop them. 
 
 Guatemalan officials say they detained several Syrian citizens with false documents two years ago and deported them. No evidence was made public connecting them to the Islamic State group. 
 
 Trump now says: "There's no proof of anything. But there could very well be." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writers Christopher Sherman in Mexico City and Jill Colvin in Washington contributed to this report. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Find AP Fact Checks at http://apne.ws/2kbx8bd 
 
 Follow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheck ||||| President Donald Trump told reporters assembled in the Oval Office on Tuesday that he has "very good information" that there are "Middle Easterners" in the caravan, but admitted he has "no proof." 
 
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 "There's no proof of anything. There's no proof of anything. But there could very well be," Trump said. 
 
 Trump was asked about why he is implying that "Middle Easterners" are terrorists, and he responded by saying Customs and Border Patrol has intercepted both "good" and "bad" people at the border from the Middle East. 
 
 "Over the course of the year, over the course of a number of years, they have intercepted many people from the Middle East. They have intercepted ISIS. They have intercepted all sorts of people. They have intercepted good ones and bad ones. They have intercepted wonderful people from the Middle East. And they have intercepted bad ones," Trump said. 
 
 While meeting with reporters, Trump asked Vice President Mike Pence to comment on his conversation with the president of Honduras. Pence said the caravan was financed by Venezuela. 
 
 Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty Images 
 
 "At the president's discretion, I spoke to President Hernandez of Honduras," Pence said. "He told me that the caravan that is now making its way through Mexico, headed for the southern border, was organized by leftist organizations and financed by Venezuela." 
 
 Pence doubled down earlier Tuesday on the president's assertion that "Middle Easterners" have infiltrated a caravan of Central American migrants traveling through Mexico to the U.S. border. 
 
 "It's inconceivable that there are not people of Middle Eastern descent in a crowd of more than 7,000 people advancing toward our border," Pence said in a conversation with the Washington Post Tuesday morning. 
 
 Pence backed up President Donald Trump's statements that people from the Middle East were mixed in with the thousands of migrants traveling to the nation's southern border to escape violence and poverty in their countries. Trump made the comments in a tweet Monday and repeated them during a campaign rally in Houston later that night, also claiming that MS-13 gang members were part of the caravan. 
 
 Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty Images 
 
 During the conversation with The Post, Pence echoed claims made Monday by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders that 10 suspected terrorists a day are apprehended at the southern border, a statistic that has been debunked by members of their own administration. Trump, Pence, and Sanders seemed to conflate "Middle Easterners" with terrorists. 
 
 In June, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said 10 suspected terrorists a day were blocked from boarding flights to the United States from other countries. Nielsen's statements, made during at The International Homeland Security Forum in Israel, had no relation to suspected terrorists detained at the southern border. 
 
 "In fact, on average, my department now blocks 10 known or suspected terrorists a day from traveling to or attempting to enter the United States," Nielsen said at the time. 
 
 The State Department released a report on worldwide terrorism last month finding, in part, that while America's southern border is vulnerable, there is "no credible evidence" terrorists have established bases in Mexico or sent operatives through Mexico into the United States. 
 
 ABC News 
 
 Yet Pence told The Post: "In the last fiscal year, we apprehended more than 10 terrorists or suspected terrorists per day at our southern border from countries that are referred to ... in the lexicon as 'other than Mexico.' That means from the Middle East region." 
 
 An ABC News crew embedded with the caravan has seen no evidence of Middle Eastern people joining the group. Many members of the caravan are women and children mostly from Honduras and Guatemala, who have told ABC News they were fleeing gang violence and poverty in their respective countries and that their goal is to make it to the United States. 
 
 In recent days, Trump has attempted to make the migrant caravan a midterm campaign issue by blaming Democrats for not cooperating with him on immigration reform. 
 
 Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer dismissed Trump's claim as a diversion from other issues, particularly health care, ahead of the midterm elections. 
 
 Efforts to reach a compromise in Congress on immigration reform stalled in June after Trump refused to back a bill that didn't include radical reductions to the current legal immigration system. 
 
 Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images 
 
 Thousands of migrants entered Mexico on Friday after they stormed through a fence on the Mexico-Guatemala border in Tecun Uman, pushing back border agents. Border agents fired tear gas at the people as they crossed into Mexico. 
 
 Since then, the number of Central American migrants headed north has grown to more than 7,000, a United Nations spokesman said. 
 
 On Tuesday, the caravan was in Huixtla, Mexico, more than 1,000 miles from the closest U.S. border crossing at McAllen, Texas. 
 
 Johan Ordonez/AFP/Getty Images 
 
 The group awoke in Huixtla on Tuesday morning after many of them walked about 50 miles over two days in near 90-degree weather. 
 
 During the arduous journey, ABC News reporters witnessed several women and children passing out from apparent dehydration. 
 
 Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto warned the migrants that their dream of reaching the United States will likely not be realized. 
 
 "I respectfully urge them to be aware that, if they maintain this attitude, they are unlikely to achieve their goal of either entering the United States or remaining in Mexico," he said during a business forum on Monday. 
 
 He added that many of the migrants have "heeded the recommendation of the Mexican government to begin the refugee application process and be able to acquire orderly, legal migrant status." 
 
 The Mexican Interior and Foreign ministries said Tuesday that more than 2,000 members of the caravan had registered for asylum and were are being housed at the fairgrounds in Tapachula. Mexican authorities said they have also received 495 requests from Hondurans in the group to voluntarily return their homes.
– President Trump has admitted that he has no proof for his claim that "unknown Middle Easterners" are part of a caravan of migrants making its way to the US border from Central America. He told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday that he had received "very good information," but no proof, ABC reports. "There's no proof of anything. But there could very well be," Trump said. He said that over the years, "all sorts of people" from the Middle East had been intercepted at America's southern border. "They have intercepted wonderful people from the Middle East," he said. "And they have intercepted bad ones." The caravan was in Huixtla, Mexico, on Tuesday, about 1,000 miles from the US border. When the Washington Post asked Mike Pence earlier Tuesday if he could back up Trump's claims, he said it is "inconceivable that there are not people of Middle Eastern descent in a crowd of more than 7,000 people advancing toward our border." The vice president also claimed that in the last fiscal year, 10 terrorists or suspected terrorists from the Middle East were stopped at the US-Mexico border every day. Pence had his facts mixed up, according to the AP: His own office says US Customs and Border Protection stopped an average of 10 people a day last year trying to enter the US from countries with suspected links to terrorism, but most of them were stopped at airports, not the southern border. (Trump has also claimed that Democrats are behind the caravan.)