Word is, Donald Trump is still pushing to get a big military presence down at the US-Mexico border.
Trump is keeping his promise to take down migration for good
Trump’s been talking about putting immigration on hold ever since he got inaugurated. Just recently, he sent 250 supposed criminals to El Salvador’s mega-jail, using an old law that lets the president speed up deportations.
RELATED STORIES
It’s called the Alien Enemies Act of 1798
The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 was created in response to spying. Back then, it was made to deal with sabotage during a rough patch with France.
Surprisingly, that law was only used three times in the US
Now, Trump is planning on breaking that record. Trump’s keeping his promise on immigration, and now, his team’s working on a plan to bring in the military and take control of part of the southern border.
If this plan moves forward, troops could temporarily hold migrants crossing illegally, according to a few officials who told The Washington Post.
The buffer zone would turn into a military installation
They told The Washington Post that this move would basically turn the buffer zone into a huge military site. That could mean more of the Defense Department’s massive budget going toward Trump’s border plans—plus, tougher legal trouble for anyone caught sneaking in from Mexico.
The buffer zone would then serve as a kind of military base
They’re calling it a ‘buffer zone,’ but really, it would work like a military base, allowing soldiers to detain trespassers. It’ll be about 60 feet deep and might even extend all the way to California.
But military officials actually do NOT have the authority to arrest someone
Reports say that the military would only hold illegal immigrants if CBP officers weren’t around to arrest them since, technically, soldiers can’t arrest anyone outside a military base.
The Posse Comitatus Act bars federal troops from law enforcement
On top of the military’s limits on detaining people, there’s also the Posse Comitatus Act, which mostly stops the president from using the army for policing inside the country.
The Brennan Center for Justice stated, “The Posse Comitatus Act bars federal troops from participating in civilian law enforcement except when expressly authorized by law. This 143-year-old law embodies an American tradition that sees military interference in civilian affairs as a threat to both democracy and personal liberty.”
