On border, ‘everything’ on table
Nielsen says U.S. mulling all options to address caravan
CALEXICO, Calif. — Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Friday that “everything is on the table” as the administration considered new measures to stifle immigration at the U.s.-mexico border and send a message that a slow-moving migrant caravan bound for the United States will not be welcome.
Nielsen addressed the Trump administration’s efforts to fortify the border while standing next to a newly constructed 30-foot fence in California.
Before she spoke, two workers wearing welding masks affixed a plaque to the barrier with the names of President Donald Trump and several high-ranking officials to commemorate what the administration calls the completion of the first phase of his border wall.
Nielsen’s trip to the border came after the Pentagon approved a request for additional troops at the southern border, expected to total at least 800 and possibly more than 1,000. And the White House is looking at new border security measures, including one plan that would use the same mechanism as Trump’s travel ban to block migrants from seeking asylum in the U.S., according to two people familiar with the discussion.
“We are looking at every possible way within the legal construct that we have to make sure that those who don’t have the legal right to come to this country do not come in,” Nielsen said.
Any attempt by Trump to curtail the rights of migrants to seek asylum is bound to draw legal challenge.
Andrea Guerrero, executive director of Alliance San Diego, said it would be “a very drastic action that would have disastrous practical implications for our asylum obligations, for our moral and legal obligations.”
The federal government recently completed construction on a twomile section of fencing that’s 30 feet tall. Nielsen called it a significant accomplishment to keep immigrants out.
“Let me be clear: Walls work,” Nielsen said.
New details also began to emerge Friday about the military deployment on the border.
A Defense Department official said the mission is authorized from Oct. 30 to Dec. 15 and will operate in border areas of California, Arizona and Texas. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that have not yet been publicly announced, said the troops will not be involved in detaining migrants.