What You Need to Know About the President’s
Authorization for the National Guard to Deploy to the Southern Border
Issued on: April
4, 2018
WHAT: President
Donald J. Trump is authorizing the deployment of the National Guard to support
the Border Patrol in its mission to protect our country and stop the stream of
illegal immigration.
To give our Border
Patrol agents the support they deserve, President Trump is authorizing the
deployment of National Guard units to the southern border to aid their mission.
America’s Border
Patrol agents work incredibly hard to do their jobs of enforcing our Nation’s
immigration laws and protecting our national security. These law enforcement
personnel are tasked with securing thousands of miles of border, however, and
often do not have the manpower or resources necessary to stem the tide of
illegal immigration into the United States.
Given the importance
of secure borders to our national security, the National Guard, in coordination
with governors, will remain in a support role until Congress takes the action
necessary to close the loopholes undermining our border security efforts,
including ending the practice of Catch and Release.
This is not the first
time in recent history that the National Guard has been deployed to the
southern border. In 2012, President Barack Obama authorized the deployment of
guardsmen to the border. President George W. Bush also authorized deployment of
6,000 guardsmen to the border as a part of Operation Jump Start, assisting in
operations which resulted in the arrest of more than 173,000 illegal aliens,
the rescue of 100 persons, and the seizure of more than 300,000 pounds of
drugs.
WHY: The President is
taking action to protect America’s national security because congressional
Democrats have obstructed efforts to secure our border.
Throughout his
campaign and Administration, President Trump has called for greater resources
and legal authorities to end the national security threat posed by our porous
borders. The President has repeatedly outlined a series of steps that are
crucial to fixing this problem, including funding to build a wall securing our
southern border; greater resources for manpower and security technology; and
the closure of legal loopholes that allow illegal immigration to flourish.
More than a thousand
people a day and more than 300,000 a year violate our sovereignty by illegally
crossing the border. With our current laws and resources, we cannot stop
illegal aliens from crossing the border or remove all of the illegal aliens we
catch. Of the over 75,000 family units apprehended in FY 2017, only 2,605 were
removed.
Stonewalling by
Members of Congress, however, has prevented our dedicated Border Patrol agents
from getting the resources they so desperately need. Inaction has left glaring
loopholes open and crucial legal authorities unauthorized, so the President is
taking action and using his existing powers to fill these gaps.
