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Resistance to President Donald Trump's strong-handed military proposals to counter a caravan of immigrants head to the US-Mexico border is coming from a surprising place: the Pentagon.
When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) asked for help, it asked for the right to perform. But the Pentagon does not have the right to do so.
That's not all: DHS also asked the Defense Department if they could build detention facilities for migrants trying to enter the United States. The military did not like that proposal, however, and DHS did not include it in its final request to the Pentagon.
It's not unusual for different government agencies, exactly, they will work together. In this case, the DHS and the Pentagon negotiated what kind of support to the military and to the agreement.
That's why it's so tragic that it will not be
For example, here 's Trump on what? "Consider it a rifle," he said last Thursday. "When they throw rocks like they did at the Mexico Military Police, consider it a rifle."
According to the Washington Post, casualties are likely to be used to protect all persons, who are faced with an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm, and where they can not be reasonably employed. "
However, the military teaches troops to respond proportionally when possible. And shooting someone over throwing a rock is definitely not proportional.
Trump walked back to their comments hours after making them.
He also talked about building "massive tent cities" to seek for asylum in America. But the unclear who – if anyone – will do it.
Asked for comment, Lt. Col. Mike Andrews, Pentagon spokesperson, told me, "The Department of Defense does not discuss internal deliberations." A DHS official said "DHS and DOD are working closely together to advance the president's border security mission" and that the government will continue "looking at locations and available avenues if need for additional housing arises. "
Experts, though, say the Pentagon's resistance to the requests makes sense. "Timothy Dunn, an expert on border law enforcement at Salisbury University, told me.
What can you do at the border
US troops can not detain, arrest, or search anyone at the border. That's a law enforcement function, and William Banks, an expert on the military's domestic authorities at Syracuse University, told me.
However, the lawsuit was used for such situations during the 1992 Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. Then-President George H.W. Bush invoked the Insurrection Act to enforce the law because it is deemed to be impossible.
But the roughly 7,000 troops at the border, and the medical assistance – little more. They should not have any interactions with individuals at the border unless absolutely necessary.
That, in part, led Banks to say the use of active-duty troops to defend against the caravan was unlawful on its own. "If we were attacked by Mexico, we'd be there lawfully," he told me, "but there's no justification for it here."
It is possible to get the military back on DHS. But Dunn said it's also possible the Pentagon does not want to be involved in a mission.
"The military historically has never been enthusiastic about doing border policing," he told me. "They have much bigger fish to fry."
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