President Donald Trump has pledged to take strong immediate action on the issue of immigration just one day after saying he intended to use the military to guard the border between the US and Mexico until his much-promised wall is finally constructed. Trump tweeted early on Wednesday morning that current border laws are too weak and that new laws are being prevented by the Democrats, but that nonetheless, strong action was about to be taken.
Further details were not offered and the White House has yet to comment. The slow progress in building the wall on the southern border of the US, which was one of the President’s key election campaign promises in 2016, has frustrated Trump, with the White House clarifying his Tuesday comments about military intervention by saying that the National Guard was likely to be mobilized.
The Trump administration appears to be considering using a model used by President George W Bush in 2006, when 6000 National Guard troops were deployed to the southern border during Operation Jump Start to help Border Patrol with duties unrelated to law enforcement, such as surveillance, administrative support, analysis, the installation of infrastructure relating to border security, communications, and intelligence.
On Tuesday, Trump met with senior officials in his administration, including Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, Kirstjen Nielsen, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and Defense Secretary, Jim Mattis, to discuss their strategy on the increasing influx of illegal immigration, violent gang members, and drugs from Central America.