Quick, call out the military! We are about to be invaded by 1,500 Hondurans. Make that 1,100 because Mexico has shipped 400 of them back to Honduras.
President Trump has called for 2,000-4,000 National Guard troops to be positioned along the border with Mexico. He is following in the footsteps of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and Texas Governor Rick Perry.
In 2006, Bush’s 6,000 troops freed up 581 Border Patrol agents, logged more than 28,600 flight hours and built 130 miles of road, fencing and barriers and repaired more than 1,100 miles of road. Obama’s 1,200 troops performed similar tasks at the border in 2010. In 2014, Gov. Rick Perry deployed 1,000 National Guardsmen to back up the Texas DPS at the border.
Our military is prohibited from performing any law enforcement duties within the United States. Homeland Security and the Pentagon have yet to decide whether the National Guardsmen that Trump wants to deploy will be armed.
The Bush and Obama deployments cost a combined total of $1.3 billion. I haven’t been able to determine the cost of Perry’s deployment, but it appears to have been a complete waste of taxpayer money. As for Trump’s planned deployment, no one knows how long the National Guard will stay at the border and how much that will cost.
Of course, the Democrats are up in arms over Trump’s deployment of the National Guard, calling it nothing more than a political stunt.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has advised the president she will not contribute any Oregon National Guard troops to Trump’s deployment. And since California is officially a ‘sanctuary city’ state, I doubt that Gov. Jerry ‘Moonbeam’ Brown will allow any of his state’s National Guardsmen to be deployed along the Mexican border.
So what will Trump’s planned deployment accomplish? As in past deployments, the troops will release some Border Patrol officers for law enforcement duties who are not now engaged in the field. They will conduct aerial surveillance. And they will do construction work.
Is this deployment really necessary? I doubt it. It may slow down the illegal border crossings somewhat, but when the deployment ends, all will be the same again.
The deployment is much to do about nothing. It will cost the taxpayers a bundle. It will cause some disruption to the businesses the guardsmen work for. But worst of all, it will unnecessarily disrupt the lives of the deployed National Guardsmen.
I agree this is “much ado about nothing”, and when you consider in 1916 President Wilson called up 110,000 guardsmen for border service, it pales in comparison.
That 1916 mobilization was in response to attacks on U.S. territory in New Mexico by Mexican rebels. And, those National Guardsmen along with regular army invaded Mexico to chase and capture Poncho Villa. They had a mission.
Protecting our border is neither a waste of time or money, nor is it “much ado about nothing”. 1,500 here and 1,500 there is how we got to 30 million plus illegal aliens in this country. Who’s to say this will end? There may a constant rotation of the guard at the border. Unlike previous missions to the border, the Guard will be armed and DHS will determine what roles they will play over and above support for Border Patrol. Ever since this latest round of pro-DACA, pro-amnesty talks started in Congress, border crossings have increased and this insanity must be stopped.
Sorry Janet, but you are wrong. First of all, the DHS cannot determine what role the Guard will play. Only the Pentagon can do that. And the Guardsmen will be armed only if required for self defense. Furthermore, the Pentagon says the troops will not be used for law enforcement or interaction with immigrants unless the Secretary of Defense approves it.
The deployment will end on September 30. Then the illegals will again be able to cross the border as they do now. So at best, this will only result in a temporary slowdown of illegal immigration. And that makes this venture a big waste of time at a substantial cost to the taxpayers and an unnecessary disruption of the Guardmen’s lives and the businesses they work for.
The National Guard should be used only to back up our regular troops as they have in Afghanistan and Iraq, and for homeland emergencies as they did in New Orleans and Houston by rescuing the victims of hurricanes.
To you the illegal border crossings may seem like a national emergency, but I suspect the vast majority of Americans would disagree with you.
Howie, you are wrong on several points. It’s already been reported by several media sources that the Guard will be armed and that DHS will be working with the Pentagon to determine what roles other than support the Guard will play. That doesn’t mean they will be used in law enforcement or interdiction, only that they may play a more strategic role, which we have not been told about. I have no idea where you got your information that the deployment will end on September 30th, a date have never been given and at this time it’s undetermined. Gov. Abbott said “we may be in this for the long haul.” This was after he announced that Texas will be sending up to 1,400 Guard to the border.
The entire issue of illegal immigration is a national emergency, not only to me but to the millions of Americans who voted for President Trump because of his stance on illegal immigration. Consider the cities in California, starting with the little city of Las Alamitos, who are now suing the state of California against their unconstitutional sanctuary state laws. It’s also a national emergency to the families of the 50,000 American citizens and legal residents who have been murdered by illegal aliens since 1986 and the countless others who’s family members have been victims of rape, robbery, child sex crimes, extortion, identify theft, etc. Whether it’s a small number of illegal aliens who commit these crimes is irrelevant, it’s crime that’s been imported into this country. There are illegal aliens from 110 different countries who now reside in America, some of them from countries that are sponsors of terrorism. You may recall “The Ft. Dix Six” who planned on blowing up Ft. Dix several years ago, three of them were here illegally, the illegal alien from Jordan who planned on blowing up a federal building in Dallas, the illegal alien from Somalia who was a member of El-Shabab who smuggled in 300-400 of his fellow El-Shabab brethren, who by the way have never been caught. Then we have the MS-13 gang members, many of whom were part of the Unaccompanied Children that flooded our southern border in 2014 and 2015. the countless murders and rapes they have committed, particularly in Suffolk County, NY, Maryland and Virginia. In Houston, MS-13 controls the Gulton Ghetto area and last year three of these criminals were charged with kidnapped, drugging and raping three girls and killing one of them, their next plan was to kidnap and rape a boy. MS-13 has also committed crimes in Spring, Oak Forest and Baytown. Let’s not forget the DWI fatal accidents committed by illegal aliens. The 21-year old Splendora couple who were killed by a drunk illegal alien, leaving their 6-week old and 2-year old daughters orphaned, a pastor and his wife in Houston, the fire fighter in Dallas and his young son. The rape of young children, some as young as four, are too numerous to even count. These are merely samples of the crimes committed by illegal aliens. Thankfully, you and your family have apparently never been victimized by illegal aliens, but these aforementioned crimes are real people with real families so consider yourself fortunate.
Correct and Thank You!
Janet you are right!
Some people just do not understand the level of Mexican criminal corruption involved in trafficking these people into our country. The pipeline that dumps 13,000+ children on our border in just 6 months since October, the start of FY2018, this must end.
Televised marches in mockery of our immigration laws must end.
Mexico is a failed Narco-state at every level
and is a clear and present danger to the United States.
Our troops absolutely belong on the border until the Wall Is Built!
You are right that Mexico is a failed Narco-state at every level but it is in no way a clear and present danger to the United States.
Don’t get me wrong. I agree with you that the illegal immigration must stop, but the temporary deployment of the Guard will not accomplish that.
As for those 30 million illegals Janet mentioned, only a small percentage of them are committing crimes. Most of them are hardworking people. Many of them are doing work that Americans shy away from.
It’s just like dope. The Mexican cartels are in business because the Gringos have an insatiable hunger for illegal drugs. Illegals are coming here because there is a demand for the work they do. Stop the demand for drugs and stop letting illegals work here, and both problems will be solved.
Deployments of the Guard by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama as well as the deployment by Texas Gov. Rick Perry all failed, and so will President Trump’s deployment.
Maybe a wall will work. Israel’s wall has certainly kept out Palestinian and other Arab terrorists.
As someone who understands what is going on in Mexico, there is no doubt in my mind that the Guard deployment is absolutely unnecessary because the Mexican corruption, the trafficking of illegals and the dope smuggling do not really constitute a clear and present danger to the United States.
Invasion by illegals is not the same as an invasion by China’s military.
…As for those 30 million illegals Janet mentioned, only a small percentage of them are committing crimes…
Actually 100% percent of them are committing crimes because they are here illegally.
“….only a small percentage of them are committing crimes….”
There are two kinds of Texans, those who have been hit by an unlicensed, uninsured illegal alien, and those who haven’t been hit by one…..yet. Why not attend an Angel Mom meeting sometime and see what the irregular, invading army of illegal aliens is doing to the US? Better yet, just take the car out of the garage and get out on the roadway. Plenty of illegal aliens driving around with no license, but hey, no big deal, they are just hard working, law abiding people, right? If they were law abiding, they’d take the bus….in their own country.
I notice you have a real antipathy for illicit drugs. Where do you think most of that crosses into the US?
It IS a clear and present danger. You just don’t see it because we’ve already BEEN invaded. We need a wall and troops on the border AND a robust deportation, to boot the invaders out. We liberated Europe, twice. We need to liberate ourselves this time.
“. . . . only a small percentage of them are committing crimes.” Hmmmmm. . . .
Well, I’ve had 2 different vehicles totaled by illegal aliens (who just missed badly injuring me both times.) In each case, they didn’t have a driver’s license, they didn’t have insurance, and they disappeared within days, leaving me with higher insurance rates, auto repair deductibles and endless aggravation.
So, Howie, you can take your apologetics for those who sneak into our country illegally, fold them, and place them in an uncomfortable place. I think immigrants are great. I come from immigrant stock on both sides. But immigrants come here legally, they work at assimilating and they see themselves as Americans. They follow the rules, they contribute, and they are good for our country. Illegals are not immigrants – by definition. What ever we need to do to keep them out is fine by me.
Glad you’re OK. Car accidents caused by illegal aliens is a daily occurrence, which is one of the reasons our insurance is so high in Harris County. We’ll never convince Howie of the horrors of illegal aliens and illegal immigration. A friend of mine had his son killed by an illegal alien. He was sitting at a stop light, the illegal shot through his side window and killed him. My friend never really gave any thought to illegal immigration until the death of his son. I hope Howie never has to go through something like that to understand.
Howie, the trafficking of illegals and the dope smuggling do not constitute a clear and present danger to the United States????? The takeover and destruction of America is the take over and destruction of America, whether it’s through unfettered illegal immigration changing America and destroying it or through an invasion by the military of another country. Invasion by another country would be a quicker destruction. Illegal immigration has been a slow insidious death of America for decades. LBJ overhauled the immigration laws in 1965 from ability based to chain migration based. In the late 1970’s the illegals were marching through the streets of major cities screaming “Reconquista!” and in 1986 Reagan gave 2.7 million illegal aliens amnesty and we’ve had seven amnesties since then.
Illegals are not just coming here for jobs, they are also coming here for all of the benefits we have to offer and their countries are glad to ship them here so they don’t have to take care of them and they will send billions a year back to the old country. As far as drugs, they’re not just coming to the U.S., Canada has an insatiable appetite for drugs and so does Europe. Do you know anyone who’s had a family member die from a drug overdose? That’s pretty destructive and drugs are destroying many cities and families in this country.
Janet, your passionate comment has convinced me that I am wrong. Thanks to you, I now realize that illegal immigration does constitute a clear and present danger to the United States. But stationing a few thousand national guardsmen at the border does not go far enough.
President Trump should order our military to drop three or four of our most powerful nuclear bombs on Mexico. Of course the bombing should be done when there is a strong wind blowing out of the north. That way the radiation cloud will drift southward into Honduras and Guatemala, two other countries from which illegals are coming to the United States.
Since California is a sanctuary state, President Trump should immediately establish the requisite number of concentration camps in California that will hold the millions of men, women and children that are here illegally. Then the president should order our military to round up all the illegals and ship them off to the concentration camps.
The nuclear bombs and the concentration camps are the only way we can eliminate this clear and present danger to the United States.
You are right that Mexico is a failed Narco-state at every level but it is in no way a clear and present danger to the United States.?
Are you kidding me, where did Mr Law and Order go? Lets arrest the dopers, thats it.
Invasion by illegals is not the same as an invasion by China’s military.
And you know this how? We havent a clue who is entering this country, not a clue!
As a person who spent 21 years in the Army Reserve, more should be made of the last sentence in Howie’s piece: the disruption to the lives of those National Guardsmen. People join the reserves for many reasons ranging from wanting to keep a connection with the military after they leave active duty to frankly, fun. One of my law school classmates was a Naval aviator who got more flying time as a reservist than he did on a carrier on active duty.
But, those reservists have to balance their duty with their civilian lives. They and their employers have to make concessions for them to serve. Most employers go to great lengths to minimize the stress of reserve duty versus a job. And, for those who don’t, there are some federal laws that can be quite nasty for employers who discriminate against reservists.
The reserves are just that, reserves for national emergencies or state and local disasters. After the Vietnam War, the military redesigned the active components to make it impossible to go to a major war without mobilizing the reserves. That was designed to prevent stumbling into a war like we did in Vietnam
Since 9/11, many reserve units have been mobilized, often multiple times. This is a strain on the reservists, their careers and their families. But it was often militarily necessary.
I am opposed to using military reservists for publicity purposes. And, I don’t care whether the president who does so is George W. Bush, Barack Obama or Donald Trump. They are people who make large personal sacrifices for their country (in 21 years in the reserves, I was away on active duty for about 15 of my wedding anniversaries). Being a reservist is NOT a career enhancing move regardless of how many employers shout support for the Guard and Reserves. They lie. They’ll comply with the law but when it comes time to promote someone, especially to high positions, the reservists often will be passed over.
If the military is necessary to protect the border, 1,500 troops isn’t a fart in a whirlwind. That’s about one troop for mile of border. If it’s that important and that effective, the president ought to be mobilizing many times that number of troops and he ought to be giving them a well thought out mission.
National Guardsmen aren’t trained (by the military) to be law enforcement personnel. About all they can do is conduct surveillance and call a cop.
I would recommend that we start using our own Military Engineering soldiers to be on the boarder and to help with the manual labors and technologies into building the wall. We PAY SOLDIERS salaries and we tend to send them over seas to help build up school buildings, housing, hospitals and bridges and walls….why can’t we not have those technical skills doing our shores since we pay their salaries. We have a abundant of armories across this country. Deploy them to Texas and save us the dollars while we pay through out taxes to hiring them.
One may throw hardened criminals back across the border, but like the proverbial bouncing ball they will simply sneak back at the first opportunity. Place them in their own special prison and throw away the key. This criminal element is NOT our citizenry, therefore not under U.S. legal jurisdiction. Mexican law is reputed to line up certain criminals and using a $0.22 bullet eliminate any future illegal activity. This is much more cost effective than a wall. I personally think the message will resonate deep into that country; “Don’t Mess With Texas,” or America.
Howie, make all of the fun you want and be as snide and snarky as possible on this issue. Perhaps you would also laugh in the faces of the families who have lost loved ones to crimes perpetrated by illegal aliens in this country. I honestly pray that you will never be faced with the loss of a family member or a friend due to a crime committed by an illegal alien.
I agree with Janet Thomas. Howie, You have attempting to make a joke about a pressing problem. Illegal immigration goes hand in hand with human smuggling for the sex trade and the drugs pouring over the border killing our citizens and ruining families.
I do agree that placing the National Guard on the border is a waste of time. If you place troops on the border without arrest powers, what good are you are they?
Let the Border Patrol do their job and stop catch and release in any form.