On a trip to a border city in Texas, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan says he intends to accelerate planning to secure the border.
FILE - In this Jan. 28, 2019, file photo, acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan speaks with the media as he waits for the arrival of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the Pentagon in Washington. President Donald Trump on May 9, said he will nominate Shanahan to be his second secretary of defense.
“We’re not going to leave until the border is secure,” he said, adding, “This isn’t about identifying a problem. It’s about fixing a problem more quickly.” Shanahan also said he has instructed a two-star Army general, Ricky Waddell, to develop a plan soon that will answer this question: “How do we get more badges back to the border?” — a reference to ensuring Homeland Security Department is fully capable of securing the border, its core mission.
DHS on Friday submitted another request for Pentagon assistance, defense officials said Saturday. That request, which has not previously been disclosed, is for shelter for detained migrants, and would include tents to be set up but not secured by an undetermined number of military troops, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning.
In congressional testimony May 1, Shanahan said he and Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have been considering the question of how long the military will be needed at the border and how best it can support that need. “I don’t think anybody thought it would be this bad, the situation would deteriorate like it has, and that distress would be as high on those front-line employees,” he said.“The longer the Southwest border mission continues, the line of demarcation starts to blur in terms of where we’re drawing a line saying this is not a military responsibility, this is law enforcement, immigration, internal security responsibility,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said at a recent hearing.
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