President Trump‘s first day in office resulted in a flurry of executive orders, some which directly addressed his campaign promise of cracking down on immigration. He has, among other things, declared a “national emergency” at the Southern border and sent the military to support the border patrol. Ali Velshi points out that sending active-duty troops to the border is not new nor illegal, but it becomes so when active-duty members of the U.S. military start carrying out law enforcement functions on American soil.
Police, customs and ATF officers are responsible for law enforcement in the United States, not the military. Trump’s executive orders on immigration frequently use the terminology “sovereignty and territorial integrity,” though immigration is unrelated to territorial integrity — that would be an invading force attempting to take our territory, like Russia invading Ukraine.
Trump is equating immigration with territorial integrity in order to justify using the military to enforce domestic operations. Regardless of how you feel about immigrants, migrant workers, refugees or asylum seekers, that is in direct violation of federal law.
LISTEN: VELSHI ON U.S. MILITARY AT THE BORDER AND FEDERAL LAW
WATCH: VELSHI EXPLAINS HOW TRUMP IS JUSTIFYING HIS IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN
