Trump says he will send troops to guard border until wall is built

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he planned to send troops to guard the border between Mexico and the United States until his wall can be built.

“Until we can have a wall and proper security, we’re going to be guarding our border with the military,” he told media at the White House.

“That’s a big step. We really haven’t done that before or, certainly, not very much before.”

The president did not give any details about when the troops would be mobilized or how many would be sent.

U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who served in the Marines, blasted Trump’s plan.

“Trump wants to use our brave men and women in uniform to send a divisive political message,” Gallego said in a statement.

“Now he intends to employ our armed forces to advance his extreme anti-immigrant agenda, while wasting time, resources and money and depleting our military strength in areas of real danger. That’s an insult to our troops and it will harm our military as an institution. Congress must stop this misguided scheme.”

Gallego also said, unlike Customs and Border Protection agents, troops do not have the proper training to work on the border.

“Our military personnel don’t have the right training or legal authorities for this mission,” he said. “They shouldn’t be diverted from the very real threats we face around the world to stand guard against dangers that exist only in President Trump’s fevered imagination.”

Santa Cruz Sheriff Tony Estrada, whose jurisdiction includes a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border, said more manpower was needed to monitor the area.

“I think the biggest problem is at the port of entries,” he said. “We’ve got three ports of entry and there’s not enough to deal with it.”

However, Estrada said he was unsure of how helpful it would be to have troops on the border when he was unsure what they would do.

“I don’t know what their role is going to be,” he said. “Obviously, they can’t arrest people. Will they confront people? Are they going to be eyes and ears?”

Gov. Doug Ducey’s office said it was waiting on more information from the Department of Homeland Security about the plan.

Trump’s comments came about two weeks after he signed a $1.3 trillion spending bill that funded the federal government through Sept. 30. It allocated zero dollars for his border wall.

Instead, $1.6 billion was designated for border security.

He has since lambasted the nation’s immigration policies. He took to Twitter on Easter morning to threaten Mexico and the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Mexico is doing very little, if not NOTHING, at stopping people from flowing into Mexico through their Southern Border, and then into the U.S. They laugh at our dumb immigration laws. They must stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA. NEED WALL!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 1, 2018

Trump continued the threats on Tuesday. He also targeted money sent to Central American countries after it was reported that a caravan of immigrants from those countries was moving north through Mexico toward the U.S.

The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our “Weak Laws” Border, had better be stopped before it gets there. Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2018

Last week, Trump suggested that money designated for military spending could be used to fund the wall that would stretch hundreds of miles from California to Texas.

Building the wall was one of Trump’s top campaign promises, and the idea that drew the loudest cheers from supporters at his rallies. Trump also insisted he’d make Mexico pay for the construction. But Mexico has made clear it has no intention of doing so directly.

Trump has also proposed making Mexico pay for the wall indirectly through measures such as increasing visa fees, imposing new tariffs and targeting remittances.

KTAR News’ Mark Carlson and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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