On Tuesday of this week, AlertsUSA subscribers were notified via an SMS message to their mobile devices of a decision by the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to keep more than 2000 National Guard troops in Washington DC for an additional two months. The deployment extension, approved after a request from the U.S. Capitol Police, will extend the Guard mission to nearly six months. Without the deployment extension, all Guard troops were scheduled to leave Washington on this weekend.
Approximately 5,000 National Guard troops from around the country are now deployed to D.C., along with miles of riot fencing topped with razor wire. Buildings falling within the fence line include the U.S. Capitol, House and Senate office buildings, the Supreme Court, and the Library of Congress.
The Secretary of Defense's decision overruled the chief of the National Guard Bureau who assessed that the National Guard cannot and should not fulfill the Capitol Police's troop request at this time, making the case that the National Guard is already over-stretched.
Quoting a memo from Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau"
"Efforts to date have not secured enough volunteers among supporting states to meet the USCP request of 2,280 soldiers, nor Option B of 1000 soldiers."
"I am concerned that the continued indefinite nature of this requirement may also impede our ability to man future missions as both adjutants general and guardsmen alike may be skeptical about committing to future endeavors..."
The Department of Defense is reportedly considering issuing involuntary activation orders to keep National Guard troops stationed at the U.S. Capitol. And these troops could end up staying until the fall.
Neighborhood residents and members of Congress from both parties say they oppose the barrier and liken the Capitol grounds in Washington, D.C., to the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq. Across DC, the complex is now jokingly referred to as Fort Pelosi.
In a blatant demonstration of hypocrisy, while U.S. lawmakers sit safely protected behind a fence topped with razor wire and backed up by armed soldiers and a dedicated police force, America's southern border is now effectively wide open, endangering the whole of America.
Termination of Border Emergency
Joe Biden, in one of his first executive actions, terminated the national emergency declared by former President Trump and halted construction on the border wall.
Then in early February, Biden signed an executive order revoking former President Trump’s ending of the controversial practice of "Catch and Release" — which allows illegal immigrants apprehended along the border in the U.S. to remain in the US while awaiting their court date (which is often many years out), as an alternative to holding them in immigration detention.
In the same action, Joe Biden ended the "Remain in Mexico" policy for those arriving at the U.S. border and seeking asylum. Tens of thousands of so called "remainers" have now been allowed into the country.
Further, in 2017 Trump issued an executive order that dramatically expanded immigration enforcement within the interior of the U.S., vastly increasing the number of people Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could arrest and target for deportation. Joe Biden also revoked that executive order, significantly curtailing interior enforcement.
The New WELCOME! Sign
Now consider the general view of these four actions from outside of the U.S.. First, the U.S. is no longer building the border wall. If you are caught sneaking in, they have to let you go. If you don't get caught along the border there is much less of a chance of being caught in the interior. If you show up and claim asylum, they will now let you stay while the asylum process plays out.
What could go wrong?
The net result is an unprecedented new crisis along the U.S. southern border as new waves of migrants try to find their way into the U.S.. And we are only now getting into the warmer months.
100,000 Illegals Encountered In February Alone
To put all of this into perspective, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports that in February alone, agents encountered more than 100,000 illegal aliens along the U.S. / Mexico border. And that is just the number that were caught. Of that number, a troubling percentage were not even from this hemisphere, or what homeland security professionals refer to as “extra-continentals” or “special interest aliens.” These individuals have traveled vast distances and are regarded as posing a national security risk.
Readers will recall that just last month, AlertsUSA Threat Journal reported on the apprehension of 11 Iranian nationals as they crossed into Arizona near Yuma.
Also in February, a group of approximately 400 migrants clashed with militarized border police on Integration Bridge, which spans a river dividing Peru and Brazil. South American media reports indicate most of the the U. S.-bound migrant caravan of were not from Central or South America, but from nations such as the Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Haiti, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. And this is just one group.
According to Josh Modlin, interim chief of the Border Patrol’s Tucson sector, illegal immigration for fiscal year 2021 has already surpassed total 2018 levels. Modlin goes onto say that if the flow continues at the rate it is here, by the end of this fiscal year, we will have surpassed ‘2018, ’19, and ‘20, all combined.”
AlertsUSA continues to monitor the domestic and international threat environment around the clock and will immediately notify service subscribers, via SMS messages to their mobile devices, of new alerts, warnings and advisories or any developments which signal a change the overall threat picture for American citizens as events warrant.
