Trump may build up military at border
What his executive orders could entail
By: rick Jervis
Bert Jansen
Davis Winkie
and Josh Meyer
USA Today
..... In his first hours in office, President Donald Trump signed several executive orders stating how his administration plans to designate certain cartels and criminal groups as terrorists, invoke the Alien enemies Act to assist in border security.
.....
Precise details of the plans are still unknown. But former Homeland Security officials and experts said pronouncing cartels and immigrant gangs as terrorist enemies could allow immigration officials to target people from that country. And having military troops directly intervene in border enforcement could also clash with entrenched rules and practices, the said.
..... Jerry Robinette, former head of the San Antonio office of Homeland Security Investigations under Presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama, said it was still early to know exactly how the designation will be used. But having broader powers to go after not only individuals but the networks that support them could help federal investigators along the border, he said.
.....
"It puts you in a position of advantage to move forward some of your investigations, Robinett said. "You have a tool that allows you to do things maybe you couldn't do before."
Law last invoked during WWII
..... The 1798 alien enemies Act was intended to be sued as a wartime authority to detain or remove designated enemies, said Katherine Ebright, counsel in the Brennan Center for Justice's Liberty and National Security Program. The law was last invoked in World War II as the legal authority for interning non-citizens of Japanese, German and Italian descent, according to the Brennan Center.
..... Trump described targeting members of crime gangs such as Trende Aragua or the trannaitonal MS-13 from El Salvador and Guatemala. But if written broadly, the order would allow to anyone who isn't a U.S. citizen - a permanent resident, a visa holder or asylum-seeker - from a designated country, Ebright said.
.....
Historically, a designated country has been named in wartime. This is why Japanese citizens were designate enemy aliens after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor but why members of alQuida, a stateless terror group, weren't after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This would mark the first time a crime gang would be declared without a war against the country.
..... "It never been done," she said.
Designation provides 'hammer'
..... Michael Brown, a former senior DEA special agent, said the foreign terrorist organization designation is long overdue.
..... "They're not operating like drug traffickers of the 1970s anymore, said Brown, who spent 32 years at the DEA and is now global director of counter-narcotics technology at Rigaku Analytical Devices.
..... "This designation now gives law enforcement and prosecutor's offices the big hammer they need to really go after not just the cartels, but the domestic groups helping them, as well," Brown said.
..... In an executive order Monday [01/20/2025] night, Trump didn't single out any particular cartel, crime group or drug trafficker. But his order said cartels "had engaged in a campaign of violence," destabilizing the region, and flooded the country with dangerous drugs and criminals.
..... Technically, the order designates cartels and crime organizations as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists.
..... The new declaration could help the U.S. government bring down everyone involved in the fentanyl supply chain, including processor chemical manufacturers, entities responsible for logistics and distribution, banks and street-level dealers in ways that traditional law enforcement efforts cannot, Brown said.
..... The FTO designation allows the U.S. government to more aggressively go after cartel traffickers, including potentially using the military or intelligence agencies to kill them with drone strikes outside the U.S. - including potentially across the border in Mexico.
..... Brown said the designation also could allow prosecutors to charge their U.S.-based accomplices with supporting terrorist organizations, which could bring them dramatically longer prison sentences.
Sharping role military can play
..... The bush and Obama administration sent thousands of National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in support of U.S. border agents. The Obama administration deported more people than any other president in history.
..... Trump also dispatched National Guard troops during his first term. The question this time around is whether the troops will take a more direct role on apprehending migrants.
..... Gil Kerlikowske, costumes and Border Protection commissioners form 2014 to 2017, said his agency routinely used the Armed Forces, both National Guard and active duty troops, to help out Brooder Patrol agents. But the military troops always took supporting roles, such as monitoring cameras or piloting helicopters, he said.
.....
Ordering military troops to apprehend migrants could lead to unwanted consequences, Kerlikowske said.
..... "You really don't want an issue of someone using deadly force," he said. "When you put them in that position, there is the potential."
..... What U.S. troops can do at the border varies based on the legal authority under which they are serving.
..... By giving active duty troops a more direct role, Trump officials would have to answer to the Posse Comitatus Act, which largely bars federal troops form directly participating in civilian law enforcement. Reserve troops brought onto full-time federal duty - like those already on the border -face the same restrictions.
..... But Trump could invoke another law, the Insurrection Act, to order troops to directly arrest migrants, said Lindsay Cohn, an associate professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College.
..... By invoking the Insurrection Act, "there is essentially nothing the military couldn't participate in," Cohen said.
..... Governor can refuse to deploy their state's National Guard troops.