Trump may deploy troops
– Donald Trump’s administration may send up to 1 000 active-duty troops to the US-Mexico border, officials said on Thursday, as the US president hammered away at the issue of illegal immigration two weeks ahead of congressional elections.
Trump’s threat was sparked by the advance of a caravan of migrants trekking through Mexico, headed toward the US.
“I am bringing out the military for this national emergency. They will be stopped!” he tweeted.
The migrants appeared undeterred on Thursday night as several thousand bedded down more than 1 610km from the US border.
“Whatever Trump may say, he’s not going to hold us back,” said Denis Omar Contreras, a caravan organiser from Honduras, who plans to help lead the group to northern Mexico. “If we return to Honduras, the gangs will probably kill us.”
Trump, who has maintained a hard line on immigration since taking office last year, is considering a plan to ban entry of migrants at the southern border and deny them asylum, according to media reports. The reports offered few details.
A White House official said “a wide range of administrative, legal and legislative options” were being considered, but that no decisions had been made.
US Homeland Security (DHS) secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in an interview with Fox News Channel that her department had asked the Pentagon for help to bolster its capabilities as it polices the border, including asking for “some air support ... some logistics, planning, vehicle barriers, engineering”.
The request could require deploying between 800 and 1 000 active-duty troops, two US officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The US military is prohibited from carrying out civilian law enforcement on American soil unless authorised by Congress.
There are currently 2 100 national guardsmen along the border, but the DHS request could lead to the first large-scale deployment of active-duty US military forces to support the border protection mission under Trump.
“To those in the caravan, turn around, we are not letting people into the US illegally. Go back to your country and ... apply for citizenship like millions of others are doing!” Trump tweeted. – Reuters
Washington