President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard to the southern border on Wednesday was lauded by the leader of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee as an important step to keep the country safe.
Citing legal loopholes, asylum fraud, immigration court backlogs and insufficient resources for enforcement of immigration laws, the president signed an authorization to deploy National Guard units to the southern border “to mitigate the crisis” and support U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The move drew praise from U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the chairman of the U.S. Homeland Security Committee. He said the country needs secure borders and deploying the National Guard “is a positive step” toward providing safety.
“However, Congress still must act,” McCaul said. “We have a historic opportunity to keep this promise to the American people. Fixing our broken immigration system and closing dangerous loopholes prevent drugs, gangs, and terrorists from pouring across our borders. At the beginning of this year, I introduced carefully crafted legislation that combines enforcement measures and increased border security to enhance public safety, ensure the door remains open to law-abiding immigrants and restores the rule of law. It also authorizes use of the National Guard along the southern border to help construct physical barriers and provide aviation and intelligence support.”
In announcing the deployment, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) noted that the volume of arriving aliens claiming asylum increased 1,700 percent from 2008 to 2016. DHS also noted that 48,672 unaccompanied alien children were apprehended at the southern border in 2017, and just 3,598 were removed.
“The measures implemented today by the Department of Homeland Security will take important steps to keep our country safer,” McCaul said. “I remain committed to working with my colleagues in Congress, President Trump and his administration to implement tougher and more effective border security and immigration laws. We will stop at nothing to protect our homeland and the American people.”