MILITARY BUILDING THE BORDER WALL
Is it legal for the military to be on the border? Has the military ever been on the border before? Is our National Security at risk? Can we use Active Duty, Reserve and National Guard Military?
The legal discussion for use of the military has been debated since our beginnings. In the early years of the United States there were incidents involving use of the military by the US Government. In 1807 we had The Insurrection Act designed to quell rebellions. Following the Civil War abuses by occupying Federal Troops and Carpet Baggers in the South resulted in the law known as The Posse Comitatus Act. The purpose and intent of these two laws is to limit the use of federal military troops to enforce domestic policies within the United States. To be clear these laws are aimed at the use of active military except for the Coast Guard, which operates under Homeland Security.
These laws do not apply to the National Guard (NG) and the Air National Guard under state authority nor to a National Guard unit when and if invited by another state. Wisconsin units have been in Florida, Texas, and Mississippi in recent years.
In 1957, Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to support desegregation. In September 1962 and June 1963, Kennedy mobilized NG troops to integrate schools. Johnson mobilized the NG to assist with civil rights riots in Selma and Montgomery in 1965 and again in 1967 for the Detroit riots. Following the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King in 1968, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Baltimore saw mobilized NG Troops. Nixon mobilized troops to help with the New York Postal strike. Bush the elder mobilized the NG to help stop looting following Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and again to help with riots in 1992 following the Rodney King verdict.
The military has always been on our borders. Bush the younger mobilized the NG for operation Jump Start and Obama mobilized the NG for operation Phalanx. President Trump can also place the National Guard on the border, but it depends what the mission is. The United States Border Patrol (USBP) mission: Detect and prevent illegal aliens, terrorists and terrorists weapons from entering the United States, and prevent illegal trafficking of people and contraband into the United States. The USBP has been overwhelmed and will be overwhelmed when the many new caravans of migrants attempt to storm our southern border. Do people storming our border present a national security issue? President Trump took an oath to protect American citizens from all enemies foreign and domestic, so is using the military an option?
Can you answer yes to the following questions? Do we have illegal aliens in the US? Do we have illegal contraband and drugs coming across the border? Is there human trafficking? Are there gangs with illegal aliens operating in our large cities? Are there many families that have had family members killed by illegal aliens living in the US? Do any of these describe a national security risk?
What can we do? Should we build a wall? How can we build a wall? The Army National Guard has 151 company-sized engineer units. Add to that Air Guard engineers, and then there are the Reserves (Army, Navy, Marines) that also have company-sized engineer units, let’s not forget the active duty engineers. The Reserve and National Guard units are already funded for two weeks of annual training each year. I suggest diverting them to our southern border. Equipment from several states can be positioned at four different locations. Sixteen NG units building in opposing directions from four locations equals eight separate construction operations. These units, and other units to support them, could literally work around the clock, with units taking turns “on duty” and “off duty”. And, again, they are already funded under current budgets!
NG and Reserve units are mobilized under two types of orders. Title 10 is federal, which are the orders I was mobilized under when I was activated for several years. Wisconsin NG troops can go to a neighboring state to assist and not be in violation of The Posse Comitatus Act when mobilized under Title 32. The mission that these troops perform determines the orders under which they would be mobilized. If a governor opposes the mobilization of their state’s NG, the President will just mobilize them under Title 10 making that unit a federal unit and no longer under the control of the governor.
READ MY ARTICLE: “ARE THEY IMMIGRANTS OR MIGRANTS?”.
FOUNDING FATHERS: The Founding Fathers required that four elements be satisfied for an immigrant to become an American citizen. These requirements were incorporated into the Naturalization Act of 1795, and remain a part of immigration law:
1 – Five years of (lawful) residence with in the United States;
2 – a good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well-disposed to the good order of happiness of the United States;
3 – the taking of a formal oath to support the Constitution and to renounce any foreign allegiance and
4 – the renunciation of any hereditary titles.