Former Border Patrol Sector Chief weighs in on President Trump’s plan to militarize border

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he’s calling on the military to guard the US-Mexico border until his long-promised border wall is complete.

“I told Mexico, and I respect what they did, I said, look, your laws are very powerful, your laws are very strong. We have very bad laws for our border and we are going to be doing some things, I spoke with (Defense Secretary James) Mattis, we’re going to do some things militarily. Until we can have a wall and proper security, we’re going to be guarding our border with the military.” Trump said.

Victor Manjarrez is a former Border Patrol Chief, and an associate director at UTEP’s Center for Human Behavior.

He said this move is not unprecedented. In 2006, President George Bush deployed 6,000 National Guard troops to the border. In 2010, President Barack Obama sent 1,200 National Guard troops to the border to beef up security.

“It’s really nothing new. We haven’t really seen what exactly he means by the military on the border, you know? I suspect — in most cases — it isn’t really soldiers armed to the teeth patrolling,” Manjarrez said. “I see them in the traditional roles as look out posts. Observation posts. Surveillance capabilities with night vision.”

Asked to clarify his comments during a joint news conference, Trump said he is “preparing for the military to secure our border” and he would be attending a meeting on the topic of border security with Mattis and others “in a little while.”

But these calls for increased security don’t make sense for 15-year-old Alejandro Gonzalez. He lives in Anapra, New Mexico, just yards away from the border fence.

“For what? There’s nothing much that goes on around here,” Gonzalez said. “I walk around here at night.”

Benjamin Lara has lived in Anapra for 20 years. He said he also doesn’t see the need for border militarization.

“It’s a waste of money. The military should be occupied in other issues,” he said in Spanish. “I just don’t think it’s necessary to send troops. We’re sister cities.”

Manjarrez said he could see a need for troops in some parts of the Borderland.

“The areas that need that help are going to be in those remote areas, in the Boot Heel area of New Mexico, maybe the eastern outskirts of El Paso itself, into Hudspeth County,” he said.

Manjarrez said military personnel cannot detain individuals, only a federal immigration officer can do that.

ABC-7 reached out to officials at Fort Bliss to see if this announcement would involve local troops. Those messages were not returned before deadline.

About 100 guardsmen deployed by former Texas governor Rick Perry in 2014 remain on the border, according to a Texas National Guard spokesman.