Isn't it equally newsworthy to report that tens of millions of Americans are presumably thrilled by this? Why was that not the headline? The answer: because that would place undue weight on someone's opinion, reporting it as if it were straight news, which is disingenuous. The opening of this... "article" even begins with "A little over a year ago, when news surfaced..." trying to negate the idea that this is even a news story. The last two years have seen the NYT become bitterly non-journalistic.
1
Why is Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton only identified as a "retired veteran of the Iraq war" and not also as an adviser to Democratic presidential campaigns and a very prominent, frequent, and vocal critic of Republican policies?
5
Does Trump want to outdo the patron saint of Republicans, Ronald Reagan?
Warning: Mexico is not Granada!
4
Just what is the National Guard supposed to do about the desperate people including children trying to cross the border, shoot them? This is a very bad idea.
9
There is a reason why world history is required at almost all colleges; perhaps Trump skipped this course. Otherwise, he wouldn't be obsessed with a failed, prehistoric remedy for a contemporary problem. The Great Wall of China was started in 771 B.C.E. It didn't keep out the invaders, nor will a "beautiful wall" keep out desperate people fleeing war and economic hardship.
An even more pressing history lesson is the one that most of us learned in 1970, when Governor Rhodes of Ohio called out armed National Guard troops to confront the unarmed student protestors at Kent State university. Four students were murdered, but their deaths energized the protest movement, rather than ending it.
What will happen if National Guard members fire on unarmed women and children fleeing over our border? What will the world think of America then? Will the Guard members be allowed to shoot across the border, killing unarmed civilians on Mexican soil?
No one at the White House has thought through this dangerous, expensive, pointless show of power. But if something goes wrong, the whole world will know whom to blame.
14
So who pays to fund this National Guard deployment? Oh, how stupid of me to ask.
5
I get that Trump cares not for the legality of what he wants done. However, the media, both written and live, need to raise and explain the Posse Comitatus law of the 1870's! It forbids the use of federal military troops on US soil. Sole exception is to locate and retrieve nuclear weapons which have been stolen or lost. Another problem is that a state governor can refuse to federalize a state's National Guard. As usual, Trump acts without thinking!
9
It forbids the use of federal military troops on US soil? You might want to review your understanding of that law. The Posse Comitatus Act makes two things clear. 1) Soldiers and other military personnel can’t enforce US laws within the United States and 2) They can’t detain or search people or do most of the things that usually go along with police authority in the United States. There are other things they can’t do. But those are the key ones relevant to the border.
3
They had nuclear weapons in the 1870's?
1
"in a support, but not enforcement, role"
What does that mean? What is a "support" role?
2
Road development and intelligence gathering -- under Obama.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2018/04/04/trump-claim...
Troops to the Mexico border is crazy; Trump wants war to give his base red meat. He might get it. Ray Sipe VOTE OUT GOP TO SAVE US
2
Trump’s ideas always start with an idiotic premise, his own of course. And then, what about Step 2? Doesn’t he ever get to thinking about Step 2?
6
Typical right wing strategy. Invent a huge problem (massive Mexican invasion) Do something stupid and useless (wall) And then say "thanks to us the big problem is solved". Call it a fence, that seems to really bother him.
8
Border Patrol was having problems with recruitment and retention before Trump called for an additional 5,000 personnel. Sending in the Guard kills two birds with one stone. It hides the fact that Border Patrol recruitment under Trump is dropping to unsustainable numbers and it fills those empty positions without having to spend additional money.
https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-18-50
As of May 2017, nationwide, Border Patrol had about 1,900 fewer agents than authorized, which officials cited as a key challenge for optimal agent deployment. In recent years, attrition has exceeded hiring (an average of 904 agents compared to 523 agents) according to officials. GAO analyzed scheduling data, including time that agents were scheduled to be not working (for example, off duty or on leave) because these activities can affect deployment decisions by reducing the number of agents available on a particular day. GAO found that agents were available for deployment about 43 percent of the time.
4
Vanessa, morale was reported to be low under the Obama administration. My guess is that this was largely because the administration was giving 2 contradictory messages on unauthorized immigration. It hired the border patrol to stop people from crossing the border without authorization, but then it bent over backwards to do everything for those unauthorized migrants who managed to move beyond the border region. Not only were authorized migrants allowed to take advantage of all kinds of government services from ranging from medical care and education to free bus passes and help on heating and cooling bills, they had special programs designed to help with their education and integration.
If you were a border agent, you might wonder why you were putting your life on the line to stop migrants who, if they got past you, would be treated by the Obama Administration, as well as citizens.
1
The world would be a better place if the media did not bury the lede. Most Americans, including, I suspect, the President, are unaware that the military is barred from domestic law enforcement. That belongs in the first paragraph not somewhere in the middle.
This will not end well. Ninety-nine percent of the National Guard troops will be wasting their time and our taxes. One percent will do something dumb and discredit the whole operation.
16
"But military officials worry that Mr. Trump may not be satisfied with the Bush- and Obama-level deployments."
They should be more worried about the fact that they are being led by a sociopath.
24
That one mistake has been made already; the sending of any troops.
9
Secure the border? Are we at war? With who?
I live in New Mexico, and all I see is Mexicans. And I assure you, they are NOT the enemy.
16
“All it takes is one mistake...” or one fictitious mistake #gulfoftonkin
8
Buzzfeed called attention to the caravan of migrants on 3/31/18 in an article titled "A Huge Caravan Of Central Americans Is Headed For The US, And No One In Mexico Dares To Stop Them". Organized by a group of volunteers called Pueblos Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders, the caravan is intended to help migrants safely reach the United States, bypassing not only authorities who would seek to deport them, but gangs and cartels who are known to assault vulnerable migrants. Organizers like Rodrigo Abeja hope that the sheer size of the crowd will give immigration authorities and criminals pause before trying to stop them.
Organizers estimate that about two-thirds of people are planing on crossing into the United States undetected or asking for some type of protection like asylum.
I do not think the U.S. can absorb the world's poor. The most we can do is help them improve their own countries.
12
That "caravan" has marched every year for 5 - 10 years. It ends in central Mexico. Every year. It will end this year at a conference on immigration issues in central Mexico
6
According to a 4/2/18 article in Buzzfeed titled "Mexico Says It Will Disband The Caravan, But Organizers Say Some Of Its Members Will Continue North"
an official with Mexico’s National Institute of Immigration said there had been 1,500 migrants in the caravan until Mexico deported 400 of them. He said Mexico would give humanitarian visas to vulnerable groups (eg. pregnant women). Others would have to petition to stay for 30 days (and then could petition again to stay longer) or would have to leave within 10 days.
I wonder why Mexico does not deport all of the migrants who have not requested asylum. Is Mexico just giving the migrants time to reach the U.S. border? The Mexican official told the reporter that permission for the migrants to stay in Mexico did not allow them to travel to the U.S. border but that migrants would be allowed to move around Mexico freely. This sounds to me like a contradiction. How could Mexico stop the migrants from traveling to the border? Are they even trying?
4
Joe, please read the following 2 sentences from yesterday’s Reuters article titled "Central American 'caravan' to end in Mexico City, migrants defiant".
"Central American migrants stranded on a journey through Mexico because of U.S. President Donald Trump’s pressure on the Mexican government say they will struggle on toward the United States, even as their “caravan” said it would disband in Mexico City."
"Migration officials on Wednesday continued to register names and issue permits to some migrants that give them 20 days to leave Mexico - a far shorter period than the caravan has taken to reach the U.S. border in previous years, organizers said."
2
The trump has sent the National Guard to the border and made a great deal of noise about it for one reason--to stir up his base. The stock market has been dipping, a Democrat got elected in Wisconsin, and now the trump is blowing the dog whistle. It is costing us money and may further erode our reputation.
18
The military has the legal right to defend our borders. That includes the use of force, up to and including lethal, if necessary.
4
Trump should worry less about drugs "pouring in from the south" and more about "Big Pharma's" complicity in the opioid epidemic. "Big Pharma" defines addiction as "recurring revenues".
17
The US-Mexican border is 10.31712 million feet long. Since the military in battle places their troops about every 20 feet or son, we will need about 206,000 National Guard on duty at any one time to effectively stop illegals from getting in, at 3 shifts a day, that is over 600,000 just guarding the border, If we include all the drivers, cooks, staff, etc, we will need over a million soldiers to effectively keep anyone from illegally crossing our border. We have about 348,000 people in our National Guard. Perhaps someone in the Administration should explain to Emperor Trump that he has no clothes.
10
"...being seen as picking a fight with an ally"
Seen as? He's been picking fights with Mexico since his campaign announcement.
21
The least the Times could do is honestly identify its sources ... Maj Gen Paul Eaton is a former Clinton campaign adviser who appeared in an attack ad against Trump in 2016:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Eaton
5
@Caf: And since when has attacking a candidate wholly unfit to be president become a crime? Gen. Eaton has experience and knowledge that Trump will never, ever be capable of gaining. Eaton, like millions of us, could see from a mile away what a disaster Trump was going to be if were ever put in charge of anything, and it was responsible of him to speak up and warn the country. If only more people had listened!
3
A nation's military is meant for addressing existential threats, and for some nations, their border needs the security that only soldiers provide. But that security is brought through the use of lethal force, because that is what armies are trained to do. Does the America public really believe that our southern border needs to be protected through the force arms against impoverished women and children escaping the chaos of Central American nations? Has the public been prepared for the possibility of U.S. Army soldiers killing civilians trying to enter into U.S.?
28
This move demonstrates, perhaps more clearly than anything else, that our president is becoming increasingly unhinged. We may yet hope that our governing institutions are strong enough to contain the damage, but I worry.
I live in a border city. Migrants, drugs, and crime do not come "pouring" across. Perhaps Mr. Trump mistakes the tens of thousands of people who cross the border every day in Brownsville, who shop in our stores, who attend our universities and colleges, who visit family, and, yes, some who work, with "illegal immigrants." Yes, they are brown-skinned and speak mostly Spanish, but then they go home at night. Or he thinks the thousands of 18-wheelers that cross the border every day filled with billions of dollars of merchandise are really filled with drugs. Yes, some do contain drugs, but better screening -- not troops -- is what is needed to find that.
We already have one of the most heavily militarized and barricaded borders in the world. I don't know what these troops would do -- shoot at cactus and coyotes? The only thing more absurd than sending troops here would be to try to build a wall.
(A Border Patrol vehicle just drove by my house as I write this.)
62
What an ego-building and paranoia fueling proposition for the Pretender-in-Chief. Never mind that members of the National Guard have businesses, careers, jobs, children to care for, and other commitments to home and community. In the event of a REAL emergency, they are there to step up to the plate. They will also step up to the plate to stem the threat of a "caravan" of illegals, despite the misgivings of officials charged with the task of deploying them. The reign of Mad King Donald cannot end soon enough.
15
There didn't seem to be much of a concern when Obama did it in 2010 or Bush in 2006, or Bill Clinton. Besides, Mexico and other North and South American countries benefit from being protected by the U.S. military from any foreign interference If it were not for the U.S. protection, these countries would have to budget much more for their defense. Mexico could easily limit illegal crossing.
9
And the US benefits from protecting the North and South American countries. Those function as a buffer zone for the protection of the US.
Imagine the effects of a Mexico as a satellite of a foreign power hostile to the US.
The Cuban missile crisis hit very close to home on that respect.
The previous Presidents did it under different circumstances, not as a political stunt devoid of need. Even the previous deployments might be questioned, but that's not the issue at hand.
Question to you Ray: How does our deployment on our border protect anybody else from foreign activity? Especially South America?
2
We are under intense daily attack from Russia, so the Commander-in-Chief sends troops to the Mexican Border. What's next - Trump appoints Stormy Daniels Secretary of Defense ? Never in history has a country been led by such an incompetent person.
28
Didn't our previous two presidents ( Obama, GWB ) mobilize the National Guard to the border?
2
Yes. The article stated years active military deployed, the numbers, and president who deployed them. Pretty far up in the article as well.
7
Since Obama did it, I’m surprised that Trump would as well. The difference will be that Obama likely gamed our possible outcomes and weighed them to determine how to manage the situation. Trump just goes “ Lights, camera, action!”
Consequences, consashmensas. We’ve got ratings to worry about!
14
Aside from the obvious absurdity of this whole plan, what exactly is the National Guard going to be ordered to do if they see people trying to cross the border? Capture them and put them in prisons? Shoot them? Scare them away like scarecrows?
It's near impossible to envision a situation where this ends well, but it's quite easy to imagine this devolving into a costly and tragic ethical/moral/humanitarian crisis with America playing the bad guy and/or even a war with Mexico.
35
So we should just let them in? Not wise. Doing that costs taxpayers millions. Maybe the word would get out that crossing the border is not ideal, especially if they have to travel hundreds of miles on foot.
1
Crossing the border here is not "ideal." They already have to travel hundreds of miles on foot. They risk everything to make the trip -- theft, kidnappings, rape, death. The only people who attempt it are people whose lives in their home countries have become intolerable.
As far as the cost to taxpayers: 1. Undocumented residents pay more in taxes than they receive in services, resulting in a net gain -- mostly in sales and property taxes, but also social security taxes that are deducted and paid illegally by employers, and that the workers will never receive in benefits. If they could be legalized, they could pay income tax like everyone else. 2. How many billions do you think will be spent on this troop deployment? How many billions are already being spent on Border Patrol? You do realize that all this enforcement has to be paid for, right?
9
Sending the National Guard is going to cost us as well. The latest estimate is one billion. When you calculate the cost of immigrants, do you figure in the taxes they pay?
9
What do NG members, their families, and employers feel about so many of them being pulled out of their normal lives to play their part in this stunt?
33
When you sign up for NG duty, you know you can be called up at any moment. That's why they get paid when training, etc.
3
We'll see if it's as simple as you think when NG members are pulled away from their homes, families and jobs for extended periods on a mission of dubious political origin and with no end in sight.
3
Trump is irresponsible, reckless and generally ignorant of the terrible consequences that could all too easily deteriorate the good relations between the United States and Mexico. Militarization of the southern American border would be catastrophic for both sides. The Mexican-American war ended long ago. This is one of the longest and safest international borders in the world. Why destroy it?
21
Are we sending troops to the Mexican border to protect our national boundary from the attempt of Mexico to regain the lands it lost in the Mexican-American War? Or do we want to use "border provocations" as an excuse to further enlarge the United States by conquering more Mexican territory. Just think, all those border factories with lost cost "right to work" employees, no border delays to go to Tijuana, or fun and whale watching in the new State of Baja California. You could even stay at the exciting Mar-a-Lago West or the Trump Tower Hotel there!
10
Reminds me of President Polk's order that placed US troops on the Mexican border. Once these troops were in position, he had them create a disturbance that capitalized on the superior might of his army to annex much of Mexico.
10
Right. We need a modern-day Lincoln in Congress, someone to introduce a resolution challenging the so-called president to show us the spot where all these alleged caravans are trying to cross the border.
9
Trump says he wants 100,000 National Guard troops on the border.
What would they do? Instead of having two Border Patrol officers in each car, there would a National Guard driver and two Border Patrol agents in each car.
Instead of 20 Border Patrol officers at each of the 33 permanent checkpoint there will be 15 Border Patrol officers and 15 National Guard soldiers standing around waiting for a car with people who do not speak fluent English.
A large number will be sitting out in the desert watching the border with binoculars and night-vision goggles next to the unmanned technology that monitors the border with heat-sensitive cameras and vibration detectors.
And then there are the National Guard members who will be doing logistics to support those who are driving, standing around and sitting.
What a waste of money.
53
This is another diversion by Trump to stop people from looking at the Russia investigation, or other mistakes he's made. I truly believe that the caravan of immigrants that was headed for the border was orchestrated by someone or group to stress the need for the border wall. There is no need for the troops other then to cause fear among the border states.
The midterms can't get here soon enough.
22
"All it takes is one mistake...Somebody fires. And then what?" That question provides an accurate and reaffirming validation of Trump's actions. He never asks "Then what?" Downstream ramifications can be dealt with by someone else. His edicts on tariffs, Muslim bans, transgender troop service and Obama wiretap claims are just a few examples of his arbitrary actions leaving everyone confused by what he means, what he intends, how it is to be implemented and the all important repercussions.
He leaves clean-up to the staff. He relegates funding issues to someone else. Legal issues can be dealt with by attorneys. If anyone questions the actions, they are seen as disloyal and prone to the infamous "tweet." Facts presented by the media are labelled "fake."
Deploying National Guard troops can be a massive undertaking with associated expenses upfront and on-going. We are left to intuit whether or not this new action even has success measures before it is implemented. This isn't collaborative government. It is government by decree. When will anyone in a position of power in Congress declare "Enough is enough!" ?
38
All this issues you describe have been commonplace in previous administrations.
1
Garden Plot aka the Civil Disturbance Plan secretly passed in 1968 gave the federal government the power to send Army and National Guard troops to cities/areas requesting help. This operations plan was renamed CONPLAN 2502 and greatly expanded by George W. Bush after the 9/11 attacks. It's possible Trump has broad authority that even Bush did not use, so this is not a good development. Hopefully just for show and a carrot for his xenophobic base?
4
Yes, we have weak immigration laws. We also have the largest, richest economy in the world. We also have a huge population of semi-educated white people who wouldn't do the jobs that immigrants do, for any amount of money -- much less an amount that would allow consumers the luxuries they enjoy.
The problem is that those white people imagine -- or want us to imagine -- that they would be doing all those jobs that immigrants do, if only there weren't immigrants doing them. Which is total hogwash. Those white people want credit for doing hard jobs they say they'd do, without ever having to do them.
Can't we just enjoy our economy, and pay no attention to Americans who don't want to finish high school but expect the rest of us to cater to their sense of privilege? Our immigration laws are working just fine.
32
A meat packing plant advertised for workers. Hard work, but paid well and provided benefits. Guess who showed up? Not the unemployed white folks of the town, but immigrants who moved in from other states just to have the work.
12
And when manufacturing comes back to the US, I guarantee those same jobless whites won't be working in the factories, either. On weekends, I do see lots of white people in my area standing in intersections with signs, begging me for the money I earned the rest of the week. I am white, btw.
3
Considering that California already gave over one million illegal immigrants drivers licenses. Why should so many illegals "jump" the line of legal applicants?
The citizens of CA are paying an enormous price to allow this and be a "sanctuary" city, all for more Democratic votes? CA is clearly totally Democrat, so with electoral college, it is not needed.
Productive people are leaving the state, and I am sure it is closer to bankruptcy than the "authorities" will tell us. It is similar in NY, CT and NJ, but I am sure that income from POT will save the day!!
3
If you want come here to collect strawberries, you are welcome.
8
We licensed illegals so tah we can better protect ourselves=ves from untrained and uninsured drivers. The illegals are here doing the hard, dirty jobs our citizens refuse to do. they have to stand is the same DMV lines, pass the same tests, have the same insurance, and pay the same fees as everyone else. We aren't giving anything away to the illegals. They are here and always will be here so we are trying to regulated their driving. You far right conservatives want our low cost food but you refuse to work in our fields.
8
Someone should tell Trump that walls don't stop tunnels. I mean, c'mon, El Chapo in prison goes to a bathroom stall and comes out a mile away with the tunnel having a rail and a rail bike waiting for him!! I say get these guys who built that tunnel and hire them for our infrastructure work.
16
Very few illegal immigrants enter the United States through tunnels. The drug cartels operate the tunnels, which wouldn't accommodate hundreds of thousands illegal immigrants. Besides, illegal immigrants can't under the Rio Grande, which comprises most of the border.
4
So right, The Drug Cartels don't want illegal immigrants using their drug tunnels for the simple reason that 20 illegal immigrants are far more visible and harder to transport away from the border than 1 million dollars worth of cocaine.
2
Actually, the Rio Grande only forms the border with the State of Texas. At El Paso the Rio Grande flows north through the center of New Mexico to its source in Colorado. That leaves New Mexico, Arizona and California with land borders that are ideal for the tunneling that has been put forth as an issue.
However, the majority of “illegal immigrants” are people who overstay their visas. These people arrive at airports via planes. No tunnels are involved. No walls will prevent these people from entering the US.
5
Why do we have a National Guard if they cannot guard the borders of our nation? This is just more diversion and government speak from lifelong bureaucrats in the Pentagon.
3
For crying out loud, get some cameras out there and some actors in neat looking gear (all handsome and manly, except for a token tough gal), make them run around and find some drugs and guys with cantaloupe sized calves, then put it on TV. That’s all Trump really wants or needs.
53
“Ally”? Really? This is how the US would characterize the treatment of its friends and neighbours, Mexico, Canada? #withfriendslikethis
8
Remember that the majority of Americans do not support Trump and his administration. We will be rid of this malignant cancer on our nation within the year... Watch election day in November.
6
the united states of america are panicking because of a small caravane of migrants appearing from honduras...and want to mobilize the national guard.
is there anything i haven‘t caught...?
31
No.
5
Why would Mexico take offense at U.S. efforts to prevent illegal border crossings? Mexico routinely deploys its military to border cities.
Presidents has sent Regular Army units as well as National Guard units to protect the border many times since the Posse Comitatus Act was passed in 1878. During the Mexican Revolution in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson sent thousands of Regular Army and National Guard troops to patrol the border, including a full brigade commanded by Gen. John “Blackjack” Pershing. As a young cavalry lieutenant, George S. Patton chased bands of Mexican cattle rustlers back across the Rio Grande. More recently, President George W. Bush and President Barrack Obama sent thousands of National Guard troops to help secure the Border
3
Amazing how you don't hear one comment from Ryan or McConnell. All the deaf dumb and blind Republican senators and congressmen just go along with one folly after another. Each folly costs Americans and American taxpayers money that should have been used for education and infrastructure. When will the stupid people who continue to support this insanity wake up? Trump should have made DeVos head of homeland security rather than education so she and Blackwater could have patrolled the border and made money. Living with Trump's insanity daily blunts one's ability to see how truly outrageous he is.
34
I still see, and I'll never, ever normalize him.
2
Am I understanding this right: there is no specific defined role for the National Guard (other than not be in contact with immigrants), the governors of each state have authority over the operation in each state (has any governor asked for the National Guard deployment), and the Border Patrol maintains its authority?
15
Yep. Its a big "dog and pony show". Nothing of substance, just something Fox can show Trumps base to appease them.
20
Chasing ghosts at the expense of tax dollars and real security uses to create the illusion of doing something for political optics.
50
As with Bush 43, it always seems the most hawkish are the ones who avoided combat themselves. We continue to pay the price in both lives and dollars for his folly with a war that has no end in sight, 17 years after he started it, the longest war Americans have ever fought in.
29
What we don’t need is Vladimir Putin making a deal with the Mexican government to support them if Trump places thousands of American soldiers on the border. As the bumbling Trump administration moves forward there is a real possibility that our border with Mexico could become a border with Mexico and their allies. I would rather face mothers and children coming across the US - Mexico border than Russian troops.
23
Not a credible comment. Remember what happened in Cuba back in 1962
2
Our immigration system is hopelessly broken and has been for decades. The people at the bottom are paying the price even though it is abused by people high and low. Here in San Diego we see both ends. People coming over the border to work in construction, landscaping, or other low end jobs. They take substandard wages, work in tough conditions and dare not complain about wage theft, or filthy broken down apartments. They are virtual slaves.
At the other end are students and others with high end skills who overstay their visas. They are just as illegal as those at the bottom, but no one is raiding their job site and carting them off to a crowded detention center for months or years. No one is breaking up their family, and they don't have to worry about being targeted by the cops or ICE.
Our immigration system has been functioning on a 'wink and nod,' for decades. As long as our fruit get picked, our lawn gets mowed, there are plenty of grad assistants to do the grunt work in labs, no one complains too loudly. Occasionally a politician will force a showy display to prove he is doing something, then the news cycle moves on and the 'wink and nod' is back.
We have a caste system every bit as ridged as India's. We have citizens and those who we allow here to do our dirty work, be it with a shovel or a test tube, who have no rights, and are often exploited. We are in fact, Slave Owners, it is past time we faced that.
74
Well put.
4
As long as it benefits the 1%, it will be acceptable.
7
The simple truth is that the illegals would not be coming to the USA if there were no jobs for them. They take the hard, dirty jobs in Agriculture, slaughterhouses, Construction, and the "Hospitality" industry because Americans no longer will accept and jobs that get their hands dirty and require actual lan-bor instead of sitting in front of a computer screen. Instead of spending billions on a border wall, why not spend a tenth of that, in prosecuting the employers who knowingly hire illegals. When a 20 year old latino who speaks no english applies for a job with an fake ID and Social security card andy 12 year old would reasonably suspect that the person is here illegally. But them our local right wing Republican Congressman's more than likely hires illegasl to work his farms.
2
This intemperate move will serve up an election victory to Obrador on a silver platter. Then watch the fur fly.
9
Great Idea. Put the National Guard on the border in the Sonora Desert between June 1 and Sept 1. Air temperatures 130 degrees in the shade. Put them all on patrol every single day on the border. And what do you get - - - sweaty, dehydrated soldiers. Brilliant military strategy. This will surely solve the problem. And great training for combat in Northern Europe too.
48
Sounds like conditions in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
2
There will be an uptick in Mr Trumps popularity numbers.
11
Did not presidents Obama and Bush take similar action?
9
"Similar,"but far from the same.
Obama sent 1200 troops, just one percent of the 100k Trump wants to send. And they were there for surveillance, not enforcement.
Even Bush sent just 6000, for the same purpose.
Trump intends to use 100k National Guard troops to apprehend people, a dangerous use of the military against a foreign ally.
41
The former Presidents did not defame Mexicans by calling them rapists and lazy, etc. The problem is that congress will not deal with the issue because cheap labor, cheap food is what Americans want.
Trump's attitude toward Mexicans was deplorable all for show for his base. He uses cheap foreign labor for his buildings ... he is such a hypocrite.
6
The fact is that Trump is simply unable to grasp the concept (foreign + ally). To Trump, all nations other than his own are viewed as rivals at best...but more often enemies. That is what hardcore nationalism boils down to.
7