Troops to the Border
President Trump is sending troops to the border. It sounds like the beginning of World War I, when mobilizing troops to the border was the trigger for starting a worldwide conflagration. It isn’t.
Troops to the border creates visions of tanks rolled up along the hills, and planes flying low over the Rio Grande, searching for those elusive “caravans” pulling up along the Mexican side and unloading their cargo of humans. At least, it’s patrols of Army units, searching the border, looking for “illegals,” rounding up those that are slipping through the Customs and Border Patrol efforts. It’s not.
President Trump is doing the same thing that Presidents Bush and Obama did. He’s asking the Governors of the border states to send THEIR National Guard troops to the border area. Those National Guard troops are legally allowed to assist in “policing actions,” something the Army, Marines, Air Force and Navy are prohibited from doing in most situations (the Posse Comitatus Act.) Just as the National Guard is called out for hurricanes, floods and riots, they can be called out to help at the border.
And what can they do? We don’t have a “shooting border;” it’s not a “death zone” like the old East German border. Even if and when we build “the wall” for President Trump, it won’t be the “Berlin Wall.” Crossing the border illegally is NOT a death penalty offense, it’s closer to getting a parking ticket than “the needle.” The penalty for crossing the border illegally: getting sent back across the border.
And, by the way, illegal crossings at the border are estimated to be at the lowest level in forty-six years (National Public Radio.) The President is responding NOT to a national crisis of some sort, but to a Fox and Friends report of a Buzzfeed story about thousands coming to the US from Central America in a caravan. Whether those folks were really all coming to the US is in question: some will stay in Mexico, some will LEGALLY ask for asylum in the US, and some will undoubtedly try to cross illegally.
The National Guard, totaling around 2000 troops (Bush sent 6000), will be used in supporting roles, backing up the Customs and Border Patrol. Logistics, building barriers, and helping with intelligence (especially aerial drones) are some of the areas where the Guard would be helpful. It will be expensive, and the states won’t want to cover the cost. Some states, notably California, may not send their troops. So if border crossings are at a low, what’s the crisis?
It’s not just because Trump saw it on Fox. It’s really about the 2018 election. Early election results show that the Democrats are turning the tables from 2016. The latest was a statewide judicial race in Wisconsin, for the first time in twenty years a Democrat won the judicial seat, this time by a twelve point margin. The “Trump majority” of 2016 is being flipped, and Trump needs to consolidate his base in order to try to maintain a majority of the House of Representatives.
Maintaining a majority in the House may be about staying in the White House for Trump. With the Mueller investigation (already the Washington Post is reporting the Mueller strategy of generating reports on Trump’s actions) getting nearer to a conclusion, it is clear that the House will be asked to consider impeachment charges against the President. To Trump, whether Paul Ryan and the Republicans are in charge, or Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats, will likely mean the difference between impeachment or not.
So “troops to the border” means National Guard supporting the Customs and Border Patrol, just like they did before. But it sure sounds like much more, and that’s what the President wants his base to hear.
Quick Hits
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt can’t seem to get out of trouble. It started with “the cone of silence” (you’ve got to be old enough to remember Get Smart for that one), a secure communications booth built into his office (there was one upstairs) for hundred’s of thousands of dollars, then expensive flights all over the country, travelling first class.
two of his aides were given huge raises over the objections of the White House, and Pruitt has been accepting a “sweetheart” deal from a lobbyist to live in a DC condo for $50 a day (you might get a bed on Air Bnb on Capitol Hill for twice that.) Isn’t it odd that the owner lobbies for the LNG (liquid natural gas) industry, and Pruitt made a trip to Algeria to push their purchase of LNG. That’s not in the EPA’s authority. And now, his security team has used “lights and sirens” to get him to a dinner appointment at a posh French restaurant. It seems he’s gone from the shoe-in replacement for Attorney General Jeff Sessions, to a man waiting for a tweet saying he’s fired.
His time will come, but it won’t happen until President Trump needs to distract from some other crisis that’s making him look bad. Whether it’s Robert Mueller or Stormy Daniels, when the next one comes up, Pruitt should pack his bags and get his own first class flight back to Tulsa. Trump will send him home.
