An MSNBC analyst said Wednesday that President Joe Biden sending troops to the southern border is nothing “more than a gesture.”
The Biden administration on Tuesday approved sending 1,500 active duty troops to the border as concerns mount that migrants will flood the country once Title 42 is lifted.
Host Jose Diaz-Balart reported the Biden Administration and Mexico have made a deal that would allow non-Mexican migrants to be deported back to Mexico if they enter the U.S. illegally.
“This comes as the Pentagon says 1,500 active duty troops will be headed to the border to support the border patrol. There is precedent for this kind of move. In 2006, President George W. Bush sent up to 6,000 National Guard soldiers to the border. In 2010, President Obama sent 1,200 National Guard soldiers to the border. In 2018, President Trump sent more than 5,000 active troops to the border,” Diaz said. “General, you told us that you were worried this could become a catastrophe. What did you mean about that?”
“I think it’s likely we’re gonna see a ramped up tens of thousands of these poor people from Central America, southern Mexico, and now, increasingly, from all over the world. Venezuela, Ecuador, Cuba, trying to come to the United States, thinking that Title 42 gives them a green flag to cross the border, request asylum and then get a hearing a year or so later,” MSNBC Military Analyst Gen. Barry McCaffrey said. (RELATED: ‘That’s On You’: Brian Kilmeade Goes Ballistic On Dem Mayor Who Tries To Defend Biden’s Border Policies)
“What do you do about it? Well the 1,500 troops that are being deployed are really a tiny gesture. Plus, border patrol is the largest the law enforcement organization in the world, it has 60,000 employees. There’s already a couple thousand or more national guard already deployed to the border. The real question is, what are our articulated policies? It’s 180 million people in Central America, a-third of them are in such desperate circumstances, they will try and come to the United States,” McAffrey continued. “I think the Biden Administration is thrashing around trying to figure out what to do [but] 1,500 troops without law enforcement authority is not much more than a gesture.”
Vice President Kamala Harris was once opposed to sending troops to the border, criticizing then President Donald Trump for sending 5,200 troops to handle the influx of migrants. Harris, alongside two other senate colleagues, said she was “deeply disturbed by the overt politicization of the military.”