Trump Signing Proclamation to Send National Guard to Border

President Executive Order (Photo: AP)

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced Wednesday that President Donald Trump will sign a proclamation to send the National Guard to the southern border.

UPDATE: Trump Signed “Securing the Southern Border of the United States”

Speaking at the White House press briefing, Secretary Nielson said that it would be done in conjunction with governors and that the Trump Administration hopes to commence deployment “immediately.”

President Trump had said on Tuesday that the U.S. military will be used to prevent caravans of illegal immigrants from pouring over the southern border from Mexico. His remarks came as activists intend to illegally bring a roughly 1,000-strong caravan of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border to claim asylum.

President Trump had said Tuesday that he wanted to send the military to the border to secure it until a wall and other security measures were put in place.

Pueblo Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders, accused President Trump on Monday of “bullying” migrants.

“Trump is trying to turn Central American refugees and other immigrant communities against each other, and use them as a bargaining chip with Mexico,” the group said in a statement.

Nevertheless, President Trump said he has spoken with U.S. Defense Department Secretary James Mattis about the use of the military to guard the border. The plan will entail using the military until a border wall is constructed. The President applauded Mexican authorities for breaking at least parts of the caravan up “very rapidly” as it moved through Mexico.

“They have very strong immigration laws, as we should have,” he said. “It’s sad for the people in the caravan and it’s sad for the people in the United States.”