Trump hardens his position at the Mexican border, says 15,000 soldiers could be sent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States could send up to 15,000 troops to the Mexican border as he toughens his stance against a caravan of migrants fleeing violence. and poverty in Central America.

The numbers quoted by Trump are significantly higher than those provided by defense officials. The Pentagon announced Monday that it was deploying more than 5,200 soldiers at the border, but that their numbers would increase. On Wednesday, he said more than 7,000 soldiers would support the Department of Homeland Security along the border.

Several groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have accused Trump of politicizing the army ahead of next week's congressional elections with his intention to use active military personnel to bolster border patrol efforts.

"As far as the caravan is concerned, our army has come out … We will go between 10 and 15,000 soldiers, in addition to the Border Patrol, the ICE and all the others at the border", Trump told the press. White House.

Trump did not say how many of those 15,000 would be the National Guard. There are already 2,100 American Border Guard forces sent after an earlier Trump request in April, and they are allowed to go up to 4,000.

If 15,000 soldiers were involved in the effort, it would mean that there would be more US troops on the Mexican border than in Afghanistan, which has become the longest running conflict in America.

Trump has sought to use immigration as a problem to motivate Republican voters before the Nov. 6 elections, where Republicans will seek to maintain control of both houses of Congress.

As a presidential candidate ahead of the 2016 US elections, Trump promised to toughen immigration laws and build a wall along the southern border with Mexico, but implementing his campaign promise signature was slow.

A caravan of migrants from Central America, estimated at at least 3,500 people, left Honduras in mid-October and is currently in southern Mexico, en route to the US border.

"WE DO NOT DO STUNTS"

Before Trump's comments, US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis on Wednesday rejected criticism that the deployment of thousands of troops on the border with Mexico was a political joke.

"The support we provide to the Secretary of Homeland Security is concrete support, based on the request of the Commissioner of Customs and Border Police, so we are not doing stunts in this department," said Mattis at the # 39, the outcome of a meeting with his South Korean counterpart. at the Pentagon.

Republican lawmakers and other Trump supporters applauded the deployment. Critics argue that Trump has created a crisis to drive Republican voters to the polls.

"The project to send 5,200 active soldiers to the southern border is a zany political case that sets a bad precedent and probably constitutes an abuse of power," said Kelly Magsamen, a former senior security official. Pentagon who is currently working at the Center for American Progress. Left think group.

Trump's decision to appeal to the army appears to be a shift from past practice. In recent years, such operations have been carried out by National Guard forces, mostly part – time soldiers often called upon to intervene in internal emergency situations.

A US official told Reuters Wednesday the Pentagon had identified more than 7,000 soldiers on active duty, including about 2,000 on standby, who could be deployed at the Mexican border if necessary.

Several fundamental questions remained unanswered a few days after the announcement of the Pentagon, including the scope of the mission and the Pentagon's assessment of any threats posed by arriving migrants.