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The Department of Homeland Security has requested more than 20,000 National Guard members to help with a push to meet President Trump’s goals on immigration. If the request is approved, it will be the first time National Guard troops are used to help enforce an immigration crackdown in the U.S.
The troops would add to a broader effort that, in the past four months, has sent thousands of active-duty combat troops and armored Stryker combat vehicles to the southwestern border — as well as U-2 spy planes, surveillance drones and two Navy warships. The Pentagon said that the mission had cost $525 million so far.
The military buildup appears to have deterred cartels. Intelligence officials said that human traffickers were now charging migrants about $20,000 per person, up from $7,000 a year ago. The leader of the U.S. Northern Command recently told Congress that the border mission would probably be “measured in years, not months.”
But the government’s wider crackdown on immigration faced a challenge in the courts today. The Supreme Court held arguments in a case related to Trump’s move to end birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to undocumented migrants. While the case focused on the power of judges to block policies, several justices seemed troubled by the legality and the consequences of Trump’s executive order.
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