Pentagon Rejects Imposing Measures Aiming at Illegal Immigrants

In response to the large number of undocumented migrants flooding into the state from Arizona and Texas, Washington DC’s mayor, Muriel Bowser, requested that the National Guard be deployed to assist in housing those arriving by bus from the border.

The secretary of defense declined the mayor’s request for support, stating that such support would have a negative effect on the troops’ readiness. This happened after a bus taking immigrants to Washington DC from Texas by Governor Greg Abbott.

This week, the White House warned Abbott not to interfere in federal affairs after the Texas governor authorized state law enforcement officials to detain migrants crossing the border illegally from Mexico.

There was a tragic incident in June where at least 50 undocumented immigrants were found dead in an abandoned truck near San Antonio, Texas – a tragedy that was attributed to “criminal” professional smugglers by President Joe Biden. The US Department of Homeland Security conducted a criminal investigation into the incident.

It has been ruled by the US Supreme Court that undocumented immigrants do not have a constitutional right to a bail hearing, which would allow them to be released from detention after 6 months. A lower court had ruled 3 years ago that immigrants were entitled to a hearing after 6 months in detention.