WASHINGTON— Today, Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva led 33 House of Representatives colleagues in a letter to Department of Defense Principal Inspector General Glenn A. Fine urging an investigation into President Trump’s decision to deploy military personnel to the U.S.-Mexico border. Currently, more than 7,000 servicemen and women are stationed at the border—including an additional 2,100 deployed last month.
“The Trump Administration’s troop deployment at the border is nothing short of alarming and raises serious legal questions that the administration has repeatedly failed to answer,” said Rep. Grijalva. “The military should have no role in enforcing domestic law, and this troop deployment is another scare tactic by President Trump to create a crisis and traumatize asylum-seeking children and their families. The Trump Administration needs to answer these fundamental legal questions and halt their efforts to further militarize our border communities.”
Thirty-three Members of Congress joined Rep. Grijalva on the letter. The lawmakers wrote in part:
“The misuse of U.S. military personnel and resources raises serious questions about legality and wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars. Military personnel at the border should not be delegated responsibilities outside of their scope. The blurred rules of engagement also erode fundamental laws and norms that keep the U.S. military separate from domestic law enforcement and risk further traumatizing and irreparably harming children and families who seek safety and asylum. We refuse to allow our servicemembers in uniform to become pawns in the President’s unnecessary and dangerous anti-immigrant political agenda. Congress and the American people deserve to know why our military forces are being politicized and whether the U.S. military is violating federal law under the President’s orders.”
The letter is endorsed by AboutFace: Veterans Against the War, Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), Center for Victims of Torture, Church World Service, Clean Elections Texas, Coalición de Derechos Humanos, Common Defense, CREDO, Defending Rights & Dissent, Demand Progress Education Fund, Earthjustice, End Streamline Coalition (Tucson, AZ), Government Information Watch, Human Rights First, Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office, MomsRising, MoveOn, National Center for Transgender Equality, National Immigrant Justice Center, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, National Organization for Women, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, New American Leaders, Peace Action, Public Citizen, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, Services, Immigrant Rights & Education Network (SIREN), Sierra Club, South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC), United We Dream, VoteVets, Voto Latino, Win Without War.
The full text of the letter can be found here.
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