U.S. Spending $72 Million For Troops To Do Nothing At The Border
Source: Think Progress
Thousands of troops will miss Thanksgiving thanks to Donald Trump's xenophobic theatrics.
For reasons still unclear, President Trump has stationed nearly 6,000 troops at the southern border. This political stunt, the Pentagon now reports, will cost U.S. taxpayers $72 million. Combined with the $138 million spent on the 2,100 National Guard troops that have been deployed there since April, that brings the total cost of securing the border this year to $210 million.
In the lead-up to the election, Trump insisted that the caravan of migrants traveling to the United States from Central America constituted some sort of “invasion.” Though the group of refugees fleeing violence and persecution bear all the attributes of a humanitarian crisis, Trump repeatedly insisted without evidence that the caravan was full of violent criminals and even terrorists.
To double down on his bluff, Trump deployed 5,000 active duty military personnel to the border weeks before the midterm elections, though that figure ended up topping out at about 5,900 troops.
The exact purpose of their deployment remains a mystery, one to which Democrats in Congress are demanding answers. -MORE...
Read more: https://thinkprogress.org/border-troops-stunt-to-cost-72-million-a97fe1625341/
The “misuse of active duty personnel” such as this was viewed as stunt intended to stoke fears and to motivate Republican voters. The law actually prevents active duty personnel from arresting, detaining, deporting, or otherwise policing any migrants on US soil, so they’re only providing auxiliary support to authorized border agents.
A new Military Times report on Wednesday stated that the White House has still authorized military personnel to use force — lethal, if necessary — against caravan members, in clear violation of federal law.
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