President Donald Trump is already enacting his sweeping immigration crackdown, with plans to send around 10,000 troops to the southern border to help Border Patrol agents curb immigration. In this context, Latino advocacy organizations are pleading with the Republican leader to enact balanced and humane immigration policies.
The news of the deployments to the southern border was announced Wednesday afternoon. The Defense Department is set to initially send at least 1,500 additional active-duty ground troops to the southern border in what could be the first of several waves of deployments, said acting defense secretary Robert Salesses. They will join the 2,500 National Guard and reserve troops that are already there, The Washington Post reported. "This is just the beginning," he said in a statement Wednesday morning.
Salesses also confirmed that U.S. Transportation Command had been instructed to prepare to use U.S. military assets, including military aircraft, for migrant repatriation flights, according to CNN. It remains unclear what the exact role of the troops along the border will be. Officials said there was no plan now for the troops to do law enforcement. They said that any decision of their role would be made by the White House, according to The Associated Press.
Nevertheless, Latino and immigrant advocacy organizations are quickly responding to the president's actions, with some questioning the effectiveness of his policies.
America's Voice, one of the leading immigration advocacy organizations in the country, said Trump's policies are more for show, than actually fixing the country's broken immigration system.
"Unauthorized border crossings are lower now than when President Trump left office four years ago." Vanessa Cardenas, Executive Director of America's Voice told The Latin Times. "But that doesn't matter to President Trump, he's fully committed to his political message of an out-of-control border and that immigrants are supposed threats that he's deploying U.S. troops despite the real facts."
"Trump's executive orders and approach to immigration and the border aren't about real solutions but instead will add more disorder, chaos and cruelty, all to advance his political agenda so he can continue to use fear to divide the American people and blame immigrants," she added.
Jeff Migliozzi, communications director of Freedom for Immigrants organization agreed with the premise, arguing that the decision could inspire more racism, xenophobia and fear-mongering, rather than bringing actual solutions.
"Deploying more troops is a reckless political ploy that serves only to legitimize racist and xenophobic fear-mongering," he said. "This brute show of force is not just spectacle— it will undoubtedly embolden immigration agents to continue terrorizing migrants and people of color across border communities."
"People fleeing persecution and those searching for opportunity should be met with dignity, fairness, and the ability to exercise their right to protection. More troops at the border is the last thing to we need,"Migliozzi continued.
Likewise, UnidosUS, the largest Latino advocacy organization in the country, points out that the measures to curb immigration that the new administration is taking is out of line with what voters wanted in the 2024 election— an improved economy and a humane strategy to curb immigration.
While this isn't the first time President Trump has sent troops to the border, tasking them to help build infrastructure to support ICE and CBP's enforcement efforts during his first term, UnidosUS also highlights that there are laws that prohibit Armed Forces from engaging in law enforcement actions. So, if the administration breaches the law, lawsuits will likely follow.
"The mere presence of large numbers of troops at the border reinforces the fear of mass arrests and deportations. This fear can drive workers away from jobs, weakening the U.S. economy," UnidosUS' Senior Policy Advisor of the Immigration Policy Project, Cristobal Ramon, told The Latin Times. "It also causes trauma for children, disrupts their education, and damages families and communities."
"We need to build a modern, humane immigration system, but these policies are doing the opposite," he continued.
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