Uncertainty shrouds Trump’s Mexico border misison
WASHINGTON: When a young soldier in Texas asked United States Defence Secretary James N. Mattis yesterday whether his unit would soon be ordered to remove the razor wire and vehicle barriers they had installed at Mexico border crossings, Mattis could not answer.
‘‘Good question. We’ll let you know,’’ Mattis replied, according to video of the encounter. ‘‘Right now, the mission is put them in.’’
Asked by another soldier to explain the goals of the border deployment, Mattis said, ‘‘Short term, get the obstacles in. Longer term . . . it is somewhat to be determined.’’
The exchanges, during a visit by Mattis and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen to a muddy military encampment near the Texas border town of Donna, captured the uncertainty — and tedium — that surrounds President Donald Trump’s preelection decision to rush troops to the border in the largest such deployment in decades.
Nearly 6000 US marines and Army soldiers are assisting the Border Patrol in Texas, Arizona and California by strengthening defences and building temporary encampments near dozens of border entry points.
Up to 7000 troops may be deployed, officials said.
Critics have questioned the need for activeduty troops when there is no discernible threat. Numerous retired senior military officers have criticised Mattis for approving a deployment that appeared aimed more at stirring up Trump’s supporters before the midterm election than confronting a potential enemy.
During the campaign, Trump had warned at rally after rally of an ‘‘invasion’’ by a caravan of about 5000 migrants, mostly from Honduras, who are still hundreds of kilometres away from the border with California, their goal. Trump said they included human traffickers and other criminals.
About 400 of the migrants were bused this week to the border city of Tijuana. Most reportedly plan to turn themselves in at the San Ysidro port of entry and ask for asylum. — TCA