US adds cameras at Mexico border despite drop in crossings

The Trump administration has been quietly adding military surveillance cameras at the U.S.-Mexico border in response to the coronavirus pandemic...

Documents obtained by The Associated Press show the Department of Defense, at the request of the Department of Homeland Security, sent 60 mobile surveillance cameras and 540 additional troops to the southwest border this month...

The addition of the mobile cameras, which are are mounted in the back of trucks, bring the total to 192, according to the documents...

As of Sunday, the 60 added mobile surveillance cameras planned to be manned and operational, according to the documents...

With the additional troops, about 3,000 active-duty service members are on the border along with 2,500 National Guard troops. Barred from law enforcement duties, they have kept a low profile and are largely doing on-the-ground surveillance.

The border mission - marking one of the longest deployments of active-duty troops to the border in U.S. history - has cost more than $500 million since October 2017. The Defense Department also has reallocated nearly $10 billion to building Trump's border wall.

"The U.S. border is the most militarized peacetime border in the world, and the border is more militarized today than it ever was in the entire history of our two countries."

“I think a case can be made that at least some elements crossing the southern border are part of an organized military (or military-like) force that pose a grave danger to the country... terrorist organizations... drug cartels”

That case has been successfully made, and the Military (and Intelligence Community) has those missions.

There has been a long-standing counter-Narcotics mission, and standing Joint Task Force (JTF-Bravo) out of US SOUTHCOM, since 1983 (they famously participated in countering Pablo Escobar and the Cali Cartel). They still operate, and have received powerful additional impetus to do so against Mexican Cartels from Executive Orders issued by President Trump.

There is an annual budget line within the DoD budget for Counter-Narcotics (called section 284), that specifically authorizes its use for building border fencing, roads and lighting. That has provided rock solid legal basis for the President to spend billions of DoD dollars on the Wall, last year, and again this year - Congress has previously authorized it.

Anti-terrorism is also an accepted Military mission, and the post 9-11 Authorization for the USE of Military Force (AUMF) gives the Special Operations Command worldwide authority to pursue and engage terrorists.

Basically though, the Military does its thing outside our borders, and other elements of Government deal with internal Law Enforcement.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.