Pentagon Sends Troops to Southern Border as SCOTUS Prepares to Decide on ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy
By National Review. The Pentagon announced on Thursday that it will send a crisis force of 160 troops to two points on the U.S.–Mexico border as the Supreme Court prepares to decide whether to hear a case that could decide the fate of the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy.
The “Remain in Mexico” policy requires asylum seekers to reside in Mexico as they wait to receive an asylum hearing in the U.S. On February 28, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of a lower-court decision blocking the policy. A stay of the 9th Circuit’s ruling was issued hours later to give the Supreme Court time to decide whether to hear the case, and the Court is expected to announce its decision on Wednesday. (Read more from “Pentagon Sends Troops to Southern Border as SCOTUS Prepares to Decide on ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy” HERE)
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Troops Forming Crisis Response Forces at U.S.-Mexico Border Checkpoints
By Military Times. About 160 soldiers deployed along the U.S.-Mexico border are forming crisis response teams at two points of entry, the Defense Department announced Friday.
Members of the 687th Engineer Construction Company and the 519th Military Police Battalion, both based at Fort Polk, Louisiana, will move to San Ysidro, California, and El Paso, Texas, to assist Customs and Border Patrol, according to a release.
There they will “emplace temporary barriers to restrict access through ports of entry and provide force protection for CBP personnel as they perform their federal functions,” Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Christian Mitchell said in a statement.
The soldiers are part of the roughly 5,000 active-duty and National Guard troops who have been rotating to the southern border since late 2018, in response to President Trump’s declaration of emergency due to the flow of migrants illegally crossing the border.
The Texas National Guard will also send members of the 136th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade to Brownsville, Texas, for quick reaction force training, Mitchell said. (Read more from “Troops Forming Crisis Response Forces at U.S.-Mexico Border Checkpoints” HERE)
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