Is It Legal for Trump to Use the Army at the Border?

[mystery-ak]

November 4, 2018
Is It Legal for Trump to Use the Army at the Border?
By Jonathon Moseley

It is absurd to claim that our military cannot defend our borders.  Yet "That is illegal!" shout internationalists who never wanted our U.S. border protected anyway.  Activists proclaim that the U.S. military is crippled under an 1878 law, the Posse Comitatus Act, found at 18 U.S.C. § 1385.  We can do nothing but watch helplessly, they argue, as foreigners flood across the frontiers.

The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 prohibits the use of the military for law enforcement purposes.  There is actually a lot of scholarly analysis published by legal experts in law review journals.  But most political rhetoric is muddled propaganda.

So is it a 'law enforcement' function to stop invaders from another country from crossing our border?  Is it a military function if citizens of a foreign country approach our border to enter illegally?  Or is that a police function? 

If securing our nation's borders is not a proper military role, then what is?   Are foreign adventures around the world meddling in other countries' affairs (to use the rhetoric of opponents of military power) the only proper role of the military?  What kind of thinking says it is okay to send the military around the other side of the planet, but not to defend our own country's borders at home?

more
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2018/11/is_it_legal_for_trump_to_use_the_army_at_the_border.html

[Sighlass]

I think most of us here agree in limited big government, but yes, one of the few powers we mostly agree upon is that the federal government is clearly allowed the right to defend our borders. Not only allowed, but constitutionally bound to defend those borders.

[Idaho_Cowboy]

This is laughably silly. Since they aren't dealing with citizens of the United States they are no grounds to object to this.

Even so the National Guard units routinely helps during natural disasters. The army used take part in protecting the frontier, and have been used to put down strikes. The history of the wild west is pretty wild. 

[gnosticpasta]

+1 to Sighlass' comment.