BORDER/DHS/IMMIGRATION/MEXICO/MILITARY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday [10-31-18] the United States could send as many as 15,000 troops to the border with Mexico, as he hardens his stance against a caravan of migrants fleeing violence and poverty in Central America. The numbers cited by Trump are significantly higher than defense officials have disclosed. The Pentagon said on Monday [10-29-18] it was deploying more than 5,200 troops to the border but that the number would rise. On Wednesday, it said more than 7,000 troops would support the Department of Homeland Security along the border. Several groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have accused Trump of politicizing the military ahead of next week’s congressional elections with his plans to use active military personnel to buttress border patrol efforts…Trump did not say how many of those 15,000 would be National Guard. There are already 2,100 U.S. National Guard forces at the border, sent after a previous Trump request in April, and they are authorized to go up to 4,000. If 15,000 troops were drawn into the effort, it would mean there would be more U.S. troops on the border with Mexico than there are in Afghanistan, which has become America’s longest conflict.”
–Jeff Mason, Idrees Ali, “Trump hardens stance on Mexico border, says 15,000 troops could be sent,” Reuters, October 31, 2018 1:05 pm