US Troops at Southern Border Won’t Have Guns, Only Batons

Pentagon resists talk of illegal law enforcement activities

Jason Ditz 

Posted onNovember 22, 2018CategoriesNewsTagsPentagon, Trump

Since the first orders to deploy US ground troops to the Mexican border, there was a lot of uncertainty about what they would be doing. The Pentagon in general and the Defense Secretary in particular are now pushing back at suggestions of severe actions against migrants, citing existing US laws.

The Posse Comitatus Act forbids US troops participating in law enforcement, and despite talk of a memo authorizing the troops to detain migrants, the Pentagon has reiterated that they will not be doing any law enforcement, because they legally cannot.

Furthermore, Defense Secretary James Mattis is ruling out having any of the troops at the border armed with guns, a move intended to preclude them shooting any migrant civilians. The troops will have batons.

This reflects a split between the White House, which is presenting this as an “invasion” that needs to be confronted militarily, and the Pentagon, who are carefully following the letter of existing US law.

https://news.antiwar.com/2018/11/22/us-troops-at-southern-border-wont-have-guns-only-batons/