Donald Trump confirmed this Monday in a message on social networks that the army will use to carry out mass expulsions of illegal immigrants. Additionally, he emphasized that he would declare a national emergency to address the U.S. immigration crisis and border insecurity. These two questions were two of his the main campaign policies of the last presidential elections in which he devastated the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris. In the United States, there are about 11 million illegal immigrants, according to data from the Pew Hispanic Center.
Congress gave presidents broad powers to declare national emergencies at their discretion, freeing up reserve powers. During his first term, Trump used this measure of power to allocate more funds to finance the construction of the wall in the border states (California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas), due to the refusal of congressional lawmakers to the era.
Trump has promised to carry out the largest deportation of illegal immigrants in history when he takes office on January 20. Any attempt to use of active-duty troops would be subject to legal challengessince the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 limits the federal government’s use of the military to enforce national policy. On the other hand, the law does not prohibit the National Guard from carrying out police functions, which have been deployed in combat zones such as Afghanistan or Iraq.
Currently, the National Guard is deployed to the Arizona border. This Monday, the governor of this border state, Democrat Katie Hobbs, announced that she would maintain National Guard soldiers to protect the border with Mexico from drug cartels. Hobbs stressed during a press conference in Nogales, Arizona, a city bordering Mexico, that she would cooperate with the Donald Trump administration to secure the border: “This crisis requires immediate action,” stressed the Democratic governor.
The governor noted that in recent months, six million fentanyl pills and 700 kilos of heroin and cocaine have been seized. “Using the National Guard helps increase border surveillance and provides critical assistance to other agencies,” he said.
At the Nogales port of entry, 40 National Guard members will remain out of a total of 170 assigned to protect that state’s border. National Guard members do not stop or question illegal immigrants, but rather help detect drug shipments at ports of entry.
