Trump threatens military closure at border
The issue has gained new urgency under Trump, whose ‘‘zero tolerance’’ policy of enforcing border laws came under fire earlier this year after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a plan that included separating migrant families. Though the administration abandoned that policy, Trump has said he was considering bringing it back as a deterrent.
Currently more than 2000 people – including many who left home so quickly they brought only backpacks – are making their way from Honduras, travelling through Guatemala and heading towards the US, The Associated Press reports.
The use of military to help secure the US border is not unprecedented. Trump in April authorised the National Guard to protect the border as a similar group of migrants headed up from Central America. He later credited authorities in Mexico for breaking up that assembly. The Defence Department has in the past helped the Department of Homeland Security with border security. – TNS