The illegal alien invasion at the Southern border reached crisis levels.
Democrats like Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi figured this mushrooming disaster would ruin Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election chances.
But then Donald Trump gave the U.S. military this order that caused Pelosi and Schumer to come to one stunning realization.
Last fall Donald Trump ordered thousands of U.S. troops to the border to assist Border Patrol in getting a handle on the threatened migrant caravan invasion of the United States.
The troops could not use law enforcement functions and apprehend migrants, but they could assist with support tasks to free up border patrol agents to catch illegal aliens attempting to sneak into the country.
Democrats decried the move as a publicity stunt to drive GOP voter turnout during the midterm election.
Trump critics confidently predicted the President would scale back the troop’s mission after the election.
But once again, the supposed “wise men” in the media and Washington establishment were wrong.
Instead of quietly redeploying the troops and reducing their presence at the Southern border, the Defense Department announced that they expanded the mission.
“DoD personnel will assist in driving high-capacity CBP vehicles to transport migrants; providing administrative support, including providing heating, meal distribution and monitoring the welfare of individuals in CBP custody; and attorney support to ICE. [Emphasis added]
DoD personnel will not perform any law enforcement functions. In any situation that requires DoD personnel to be in proximity to migrants, DHS law enforcement personnel will be present to conduct all custodial and law enforcement functions, and provide force protection of military personnel.”
Democrats refuse to sit down and negotiate real reforms of America’s immigration and asylum laws that would turn off the magnets for illegal immigration.
For instance, they will not entertain a fix for the 1997 Flores decree which states that children can only be detained for 20 days.
What this means is that if adults show up at the border with children, the family unit can only be held for 20 days before being turned loose into the country.
This is the “catch and release” policy that Donald Trump railed against on the campaign trail.
So in addition to deploying troops to the border and giving them greater latitude to provide support functions, President Trump ordered Attorney General William Barr and acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan to come up with changes to the asylum laws within 90 days.
The proposed changes include instituting a fee for asylum seekers, denying them work permits if they are released into the United States while waiting for their case to be heard, and ordering all asylum cases to be adjudicated within 180 days.
Donald Trump needs to show voters he is taking every step his authority will allow to make progress on this issue.
And Trump supporters believe his moves with the military on the border is evidence that he is trying to make good on his promise.
We will keep you up to date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
