President Trump has decided not to put our people on the border in danger without giving them the opportunity to defend themselves in case the caravan invaders storm the border. Our border patrol and troops will not be made into sitting ducks. But, I suppose the real reason he did this was a s a warning against them doing the same things to our people they did to the Mexicans on the border. Perhaps if they know we are serious they won’t try anything.
President Trump said:
“If they have to they’re going to use lethal force, I’ve given the order, I hope they don’t have to. You’re dealing with a minimum of 500 serious criminals, and I’m not going to let them be taken advantage of.”
The president dispatched nearly 6,000 U.S. troops to the border in recent weeks to bolster border enforcement. Trump justified the deployment by pointing at the advancing caravan of thousands of Central American would-be migrants who want to claim asylum. The caravan used violent tactics to break through legal ports of entry in Mexico, prompting alarm amongst U.S. authorities.
DHS Secretary Nielsen noted in an announcement on Twitter at the time that the hardening was in direct response to threats from members of the migrant caravan who reportedly wanted to storm the port of entry en masse in order to overwhelm U.S. authorities and illegally seek refuge.
Trump has vowed previously that if U.S. troops must defend themselves they will use lethal force. The White House made this policy official Wednesday after reportedly signing a memo which allows U.S. forces to engage in some law enforcement activity in support of border patrol agents and use lethal force.
I believe that the caravans came because they expected the United States to roll over and let them in. Maybe they don’t get the newspapers in Central America. Obama is no longer president and there is a new sheriff in town.