Extra troops are unnecessary for border patrol

On April 3, 2018, President Donald Trump called on the National Guard to guard the U.S. and Mexico border. The National Guard are planned to be stationed at the border until a border wall is completed

Trump said he believes the laws for the U.S. border are not strong enough to completely prevent illegal immigration into the country. “Until we can have a wall and proper security, we’re going to be guarding our border with the military. That’s a big step,” Trump said.

According to a presidential memorandum, Trump wants to tighten border security for fear of rising illegal activity along the southern border. “The security of the United States is imperiled by a drastic surge of illegal activity on the southern border. The combination of illegal drugs, dangerous gang activity, and extensive illegal immigration not only threatens our safety but also undermines the rule of law,” Trump said.

Trump’s current goal is to reinforce the Border Patrol with at least 4,000 troops from the National Guard for added security. 

In order to get Mexico to cooperate with the militarization of the U.S and Mexico border, Trump is threatening to not sign the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) deal with them.

I feel that this deployment of the National Guard along the U.S. and Mexico border is an unnecessary action.

According to a study done by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last fall, the U.S. and Mexico border was deemed the most secure and impervious to illegal immigration than it has been in its history. 

This study affirms that the current protection the U.S. and Mexico border currently has is significant enough to prevent illegal immigration. The DHS study also indicated that the U.S. is already well protected from the presidential memorandum claims of rising illegal activity on the southern border. 

A study done by U.S. Customs and Border Protection showed that there was a significant decrease in people caught illegally crossing the U.S. border from 2017 to halfway through the 2018 fiscal year. 

This lack of activity on the southern border shows that extra troops are not needed to significantly guard the U.S. border.

Based on these studies, the deployment of the National Guard along the U.S.-Mexico seems like an excessive and unnecessary action for a problem that is already being handled well.