When President Trump announced plans to put National Guard troops on the border in the wake of the annual trek of Central American migrants heading to the United States, it once again stoked the flames of the immigration debate. On April 5, Trump told reporters that the number of troops would likely be 2,000-4,000, and they would remain on the border until a wall is built.
A Miami Herald editorial blasted the president for reacting to it the way he did.
“Trump went into an absolute tizzy when he learned that a caravan of immigrants from Central America — about 1,200 of them — had entered Mexico bound for the border with the United States,” the editorial stated. “The reality is that the caravan, called Viacrucis Migrante, is a symbolic march that has taken place every year since 2010 to make known to the world the challenges migrants endure when they pass through Mexico.”
Jessica Vaughan, director of Policy Studies at Center for Immigration Studies, had a much different take in a column for Fox News, noting that this caravan isn’t there just to make a scene; they expect to enter the United States.
“Along the way they have met with human rights lawyers, who are coaching them on what to say when they arrive.” Vaughan wrote. “Reportedly, last year’s caravan succeeded in gaining entry for more than 100 migrants whose asylum claims are now pending in U.S. immigration courts, so their expectations are not unreasonable.”
The New York Times editorial board on April 4 called Trump’s plan foolish and suggested it was a political stunt for his base.
“Mr. Trump has long stoked a xenophobic fear of newcomers among his political base,” they wrote. “Ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, he seems increasingly desperate to find ways to compensate for his failure to deliver on his promise to build a ‘big, beautiful’ border wall on Mexico’s dime.”
Speaking to radio host John Batchelor on April 5, Sebastian Gorka, a Fox News analyst and former Trump deputy assistant, said there are numerous precedents for deploying troops to the border.
“The argument is being made is a very simple one: When you look at the threat of groups like MS-13, when you look at weapon smuggling, when you look at the humanitarian toll, as well as the potential exploitation by terrorists, it’s very simple,” Gorka told Batchelor. “This is a part of the national security mandate, and as such, the president is very well within his authorities, supporting the governors, supporting local law enforcement to deploy those guard assets until we can security the border—either with a wall eventually or with some kind of a heightened electronic surveillance where a wall doesn’t make sense.”
Writing in USA Today, columnist and attorney Raul A. Reyes said the president is exhibiting a lack of leadership.
“Our border with Mexico is safer than it has been in years,” Reyes wrote, adding that it’s too expensive and unnecessary. “Sadly, its deployment reflects a politically motivated calculation more than it does reality or national security.”
Ultimately, Reyes said Trump is merely trying to “rally his base” and is fomenting illegal immigration fears.
CNN reported that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said that he supports the president’s efforts to secure the border, and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez through a spokesman said she supported any mission of the New Mexico National Guard. In the same report, a spokesman for California’s National Guard simply said the request would be reviewed and the state will determine how best to assist.
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