In his first week back in office, President Donald Trump declared a national security emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border and shut down the program that grants asylum to those fleeing persecution in their home countries.
Declaring “America’s sovereignty is under attack,” Trump ordered an estimated 1,500 active-duty troops be deployed to the border, including 200 from Fort Riley.
Their assignment is to “seal the border,” according to Trump by building more physical barriers along the 1,950-mile border.
That’s a tall challenge.
Currently, about 654 miles are equipped with barriers of either metal fences or concrete structures.
The bandwidth required to make the entire border impenetrable would come at enormous costs in both manpower and money. Already, military leaders are concerned Trump’s obsession with the border will take too many troops away from necessary training that can only be conducted at military bases as well as shift funding from other Defense projects.
Despite Trump’s claims, affairs at the border have been relatively calm.
In November 2024, illegal crossings into the United States fell to their lowest in four years.
Contributing to the decline was CBP One, a government app that allows those seeking asylum to do so in a more organized fashion.
The smartphone app was implemented in 2020, during Trump’s first term, initially to manage goods transported across the border.
In 2023, President Joe Biden expanded the app’s scope to include those seeking asylum. Whereas before asylum-seekers merely showed up at the border hoping to attract the attention of U.S. officials, the CBP One program required they make appointments with officials at ports of entry.
The more orderly system worked to the advantage of both. Not only were fewer people trying to cross the border illegally, but their needs were addressed in a more timely manner.
With its termination, there now is no avenue for the persecuted to seek asylum here, which violates our country’s Immigration and Nationality Act enacted in 1965.
Last week’s order to deploy more troops to the border adds to the already 2,500 troops there sent by former President Joe Biden, in addition to the 18,000 Border Patrol members.
It’s important to note that their roles in securing the border are distinct.
Active duty troops are solely there to build the wall, not serve as law enforcement. Stopping criminals is the role of the Border Patrol.
