President Donald Trump has said Wednesday that 15,000 military troops from 10 states would be deployed to the U.S.-Mexican border — roughly double the number the Pentagon said it currently plans for a mission whose dimensions are shifting daily.
The Pentagon stated “at least7,000” troops were being sent to the Southwest border to assist the Customs and Border Protection agents. Officials said that number could reach a maximum of about 8,000 under present plans.
“We’ll do up to anywhere between 10 and 15,000 military personnel on top of border patrol, Ice and everybody else at the border,” the president told reporters at the White House before departing for a campaign rally in Florida. “Nobody’s coming in. We’re not allowing people to come in.”
Trump says the move would be aimed at preventing the entry of a caravan of migrants traveling from Central America. They are approximately a thousand miles away and would take few weeks to reach the US. But Trump claimed: “Oh, they’ll be here fast. They’re trying to get up any way they can. They’re trying to get up by train. They’re trying to get up by truck and by buses. We’re going to be prepared. They’re not coming into our country.”
On the contrary the American Civil Liberties Union Border Rights Center denounced the suggestion. Shaw Drake, its policy counsel, said: “Increasing troops for a nonexistent crisis is a racist ploy and an irresponsible waste of resources.”
> Shiuly Rina
