As a response to the migrant caravan on its way to the United States southern border, President Trump has deployed over 5,000 active-duty troops to defend it. The Times calls it a "closing political message" to try to mantain the Republican edge in Congress.
The article quotes Jason Dempsey, a veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, who said, "We're using a bunch of [troops] to waste their time while they backstop the Border Patrol." The United States only has about 20,000 ICE officers, and they are spread out across 46 different countries. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, there is an average of about 375,000 border apprehensions per year within the past seven years. This averages out to 31,250 monthly apprehensions, which is greater than the total number of ICE officers in the world. We have a caravan of more than 3,500 illegal immigrants headed toward the border. Judging by these numbers, I can justifiably state that we're not just "wasting their time."
What the Times didn't seem to consider is that maybe, just possibly, the president is actually just trying to keep our border secure, instead of freely allowing thousands of illegals into the country.
This reminds of that one time in U.S. history when Barack Obama deployed up to 1,200 troops to the U.S.-Mexican border during Operation Phalanx in 2010. He sent the National Guard "to help curb illegal immigration."
Link to article: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/29/us/politics/border-security-troops-trump.html
a source: https://www.factcheck.org/2018/06/illegal-immigration-statistics/
another source: https://www.ice.gov/about
Obama send troops to border: https://www.bbc.com/news/10159363
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