U.S. President Donald Trump speaks while participating in a tour of U.S.-Mexico border wall prototypes near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in San Diego, California. U.S., March 13, 2018. (Photo: Reuters)
President Donald Trump has signed a memorandum to the Attorney General and Homeland Security sending the National Guard to the southern border. While Democrats oppose the move, both Barack Obama and George W. Bush took similiar action, though the current president is more serious about enforcement.
“The situation at the border has now reached a point of crisis,” the memorandum states. “The lawlessness that continues at our southern border is fundamentally incompatible with the safety, security, and sovereignty of the American people. My Administration has no choice but to act.”
Pueblo Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders, intend to illegally bring a roughly 1,000-strong caravan of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border to claim asylum. The activist group was stopped in Mexico and the caravan largely broken up after President Trump convinced the Mexican government to help by threatening them with NAFTA negotiations.
It worked, and today President Trump praised their cooperation on Twitter.
“The Caravan is largely broken up thanks to the strong immigration laws of Mexico and their willingness to use them so as not to cause a giant scene at our Border,” he tweeted. “Because of the Trump Administrations actions, Border crossings are at a still UNACCEPTABLE 46 year low. Stop drugs!”
The Caravan is largely broken up thanks to the strong immigration laws of Mexico and their willingness to use them so as not to cause a giant scene at our Border. Because of the Trump Administrations actions, Border crossings are at a still UNACCEPTABLE 46 year low. Stop drugs!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 5, 2018
Attorney General Jeff Sessions strongly supported the move, claiming the Justice Department (DOJ) will soon take additional measures to secure the border.
“The Department of Justice fully supports the efforts of the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security announced today to secure our border,” Attorney General Sessions said in a statement. “I will soon be announcing additional Department of Justice initiatives to restore legality to the southern border.”
