Troops at the Border A look at the deployment sparked by the migrant caravans
AGENDA 21 RADIO
Hidalgo, Texas (November 19, 2018) – The Center for Immigration Studies reports on the southern border military operation formerly known as Operation Faithful Patriot. President Trump initiated this operation at the end of October by calling for the deployment of 5,200 active-duty troops to the border in advance of the arrival of the migrant caravan.
For three days, Todd Bensman, the Center’s senior national security fellow, followed the daily routine of the troops and their work. “Every day, the soldiers in this sector had been adding obstacles for illegal entrants, mainly by stringing razor wire along spots that previously were wide open. I noticed razor wire everywhere along the river bank and above it, in many different places under and surrounding the port, where heavy brush gives way to pavement.”
Bensman writes, “Intelligence friends told me the Mexican cartel across the river, CDG, was angered by the U.S. troop deployment because it slowed the pace of drug smuggling and that the blamed the caravan for this. The cartel, I was told, has threatened the migrants to pay steep fees to cross through their territory or go elsewhere, hence the initial moves to Tijuana. No telling whether this is true.”
Of particular interest was an area in Weslaco, Texas, which appeared to bear all the hallmarks of a future “tent city”, that could be used for the detention of caravanners seeking asylum.
Bensman’s full posting is here: https://cis.org/Bensman/CIS-
Following are photos and videos of the troops fortifying open areas and refortifying barriers already in place:
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