Trump seeks border troops
Plan escalates his crackdown on migrants
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he is preparing to send the military to guard parts of the border with Mexico, escalating his campaign against illegal immigration and his fight with Congress over funding the border wall.
The president, who has closely monitored conservative media accounts of a “caravan” of Central American immigrants in Mexico, offered no details on what sort of military presence he wants or when troops might be deployed.
But seated next to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis at the White House, Trump said he had spoken with the retired Marine Corps general about “doing things militarily.”
“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, or certainly not very much before,” he said.
At a news conference later alongside Baltic leaders, the president referred again to the Central Americans moving north and to “horrible, horrible and very unsafe laws in the United States” on immigration, an offensive he has stepped up on his Twitter account since the weekend.
It was unclear from the remarks if the president had issued a firm policy di-
rective to the Pentagon or whether sending troops to the border was something he was simply mulling while taking heat recently on immigration from elements of his base.
National Guard troops have periodically been deployed to the border by the federal and state governments, and serve only in support roles to immigration and law enforcement officers. Today, the Texas National Guard maintains a light footprint on the border, with 100 soldiers and airmen serving there at a cost of just under $1 million a month, said Sgt. Mark Otte, a spokesman based at Camp Mabry in Austin.
The president’s demand for troops on the border drew reaction from across the political landscape.
Gov. Greg Abbott’s spokeswoman Ciara Matthews said Abbott applauded the decision.
"Securing our southern border remains a priority for the governor, which is why he has deployed the Texas National Guard and added more Texas Department of Public Safety officers to the region. Governor Abbott will continue to work with the federal government to ensure greater border security," she said.
“It’s just a really, bad, dangerous idea,” said U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, an El Paso Democrat running against incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who was endorsed Tuesday by the national Border Patrol union. “We do not want the military in our communities patrolling the border. We want the military being able to serve our country overseas, or at military installations like Fort Bliss or Fort Hood in Texas.”
“How about the families of the men and women who are serving, who are spread so thin across the globe, and then ask them to go guard a border with not only one of our allies, but one of our strongest trading partners? It just seems so ignorant,” said state Sen José Menéndez, D-San Antonio and the son of immigrants — his mother from Mexico, and his late father from Cuba.
“It’s another example of the fact that we have a showman, a celebrity, a reality star in the White House who is playing a role that he just doesn’t know how to play. He lacks the skills to be a statesman or even a politician,” he said.
The president has embraced the conservative media portrayal of the migration north of Hondurans and others from Central Americans as an effort to flaunt American immigration laws. The annual protest, which drew more participants this year, is led by Pueblo Sin Fronteras, which translates to “People Without Borders.”
Mexican immigration officials this week began registering the migrants, many fleeing turbulent political and economic conditions. Some may qualify for humanitarian visas and or temporary permits to remain in Mexico, Mexican officials said, and some were deported.
The president has stewed over immigration matters since Congress last month approved just $1.6 billion of the $25 billion he wants for the border wall, stipulating that much of the money was for fencing and imposing restrictions.
But his repeated assertions of a border out of control conflict with a long trend of declining immigration.
Apprehensions of unauthorized immigrants on the southern border have declined from a peak of 1.6 million in 2000, to about 304,000 last year.
The president’s intentions are unclear, and perhaps in their infancy, but the use of National Guard troops on the border is not new and generates debate over legalities.
The Posse Comitatus Act bars the military from civilian policing, including “search, seizure, arrest or other similar activity” while supporting civilian law enforcement.
The president’s declaration is certain to roil Congress. Texas reaction to the idea was either muted or split along party lines, with the most strenuous objections coming from some border district Democrats.
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, remarked: “What the president fails to understand is that deploying troops to secure a border and constructing a 14th century concrete wall, are outdated and inadequate answers to protecting our nation’s borders.”
U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, a Brownsville Democrat, had harsher words for the president.
“Trump is a racist and an idiot,” Vela said. “Mexico is an ally, not an enemy.”
In Houston, U.S. Rep. Gene Green, a Democrat, also spoke out against the idea. “President Trump’s plan to deploy troops along the Rio Grande will likely harm our state’s border communities and turn immigrants seeking safety and a better life into the enemy,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, a Houston-area Republican, who gave partial support to Trump’s idea, called instead for the National Guard to be deployed to the border upon the request of state governors.
“Protecting American sovereignty and the American people is a constitutional requirement of the federal government,” Poe said.