Former president Barack Obama has decried as a "political stunt" Donald Trump's plan to send thousands of US soldiers to the Mexican border to block migrants from entering the country.
In a rousing speech to a Miami crowd on Friday as he campaigned for fellow Democrats ahead of next week's midterm elections, Obama said the Republican administration was "even taking our brave troops away from their families for a political stunt at the border".
Trump, who has placed immigration at the heart of his party's election effort, has persistently attacked the caravan of Central American migrants, denouncing it as a potential "invasion". Trump announced earlier this week that he would send thousands of troops to the border to beef up national defences at the border. He has campaigned heavily on the issue, warning supporters Thursday that migrants would soon be "overwhelming your schools, your hospitals, your communities".
Obama said the deployment was serving to "get folks angry and ginned up", adding: "There's just constant fearmongering to distract from the record."
Obama urged more decisive action by Americans who have grown frustrated by the first 21 months of Trump's presidency. "If you don't like what's going on right now, don't just complain," Obama said. "Don't get anxious and freaked out, don't throw up your hands in despair. Don't boo. Don't hashtag. Vote!"