PREZ MULLS BORDER TROOPS
Talks military solution ‘until a wall is built’
President Trump’s plan to send troops to the Mexican border would be “unnecessary, inefficient and expensive” despite a significant need for a stronger border, a former Navy admiral said.
“Sending active duty troops to guard the border ‘until a wall is built’ is unnecessary, inefficient and expensive,” said Adm. James Stavridis, now the dean of the The Fletcher School at Tufts University. “The current level of illegal traffic is within the means of the Department of Homeland Security to handle.”
Trump said yesterday he has been speaking with Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis about sending troops to the Mexican border until a wall can be built.
“We have very bad laws for our border, and we are going to be doing some things — I’ve been speaking with General Mattis — we’re going to be doing things militarily,” he said. “Until we can have a wall and proper security, we’re going to be guarding our border with the military. That’s a big step. We really haven’t done that before — certainly not very much before.”
It is unclear what troops would be sent, but U.S. law prohibits active-duty military from law enforcement actions unless authorized by Congress. Presidents have twice deployed the National Guard to the border in recent years, including President Bush in 2006 and President Obama in 2010.
“We cannot have people flowing into our country illegally, disappearing and, by the way, never showing up to court,” Trump said.
Stavridis said a more effective way to stop illegal immigration would be a combination of a wall, unmanned aircraft and surveillance.
Jeff Rubin, a Boston immigration attorney, said sending the military to the border sends the message that immigrants are enemy combatants.
“It is designed to send a message that we’re somehow at war now with people seeking refuge in the United States,” Rubin said.
Also yesterday, a caravan of more than 1,000 migrants stalled in Mexico as organizers tried to learn whether they will be allowed to continue. Trump has called on the Mexican government to stop the group, and threatened to use NAFTA as leverage.
The caravan has become an annual event, with many participants marching from Central America. Many of the migrants are expected to seek asylum in the U.S.