Miami, (EFE) .- A group of retired military regretted Thursday that US president Donald Trump, “is militarizing the United States”, especially immigration, and warned that this trend affects the image of the armed forces between US society.
In a virtual press conference, experts analyzed the widespread use of internal military troops that, as they denounced, “is not the mission for which our soldiers signed.”
Chris Purdy, director of The Chamberlain Network, a veteran organization and their families that ensure the protection of democracy, said Trump, “sees the country’s armed forces in a very muscular way, capable of doing anything, anywhere, at any time and against anyone, for any reason he wants,” which described as “extraordinarily dangerous.”
“The law only authorizes the use of the Army in very limited circumstances”, such as the activation of the insurrection law, which allows the president to deploy military forces within the country in exceptional circumstances, recalled the lieutenant colonel retired from the legal body of the US Army (JAG CORPS), Dan Maurer.
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The law professor also warned that current operations such as the use of the Marines and the National Guard in immigration tasks “seem to exceed what Congress intended.”
Specifically, he referred to agreements 287 (G), which allow local authorities to collaborate with the Customs Immigration and Control Service (ICE, in English), but considered that they are not designed to justify the participation of federal military forces in police functions within the country.
On the budget expansion for the Coast Guard and its role in the border, Maurer pointed out that although this force has limited authority to enforce the law in the territory, “it is not authorized to perform the same functions as the Marines or the National Guard in support of migratory agencies.”
No to the masked or “political use” of the army
Another critical point was the performance of hooded federal agents and with hidden badges, a practice that the veteran of combat of the Marines Corps and a member of the Board of Directors of the Unite for Veterans Coalition (UVC), Joe Plenzler, denounced that “increases the possibility of violence and hinders accountability.”
“If people do not know if those who come to their door are police or criminals, will take all the necessary measures to defend themselves,” he added.
“There is no sailor with his badge that wants to match masked cowards,” Plenzler added, because “if you have to hide your face, you are usually doing something you are not proud.”
The director of Organization of Secure Families Initiative, Brandi Jones, shared her concern about the impact of this militarization on veteran families, who “we feel that our hearts have torn us when they see how they treat a father Marine in Los Angeles street,” he lamented.
For the head of this non -profit organization that mobilizes military families to participate in civic life, this governmental strategy “endangers the recruitment and retention of troops, because it is not the mission for which we sign.”
The retired military and legal experts showed their growing concern, qualifying the “political use of the army” as a “mistaken, dangerous and counterproductive practice for democracy and public confidence.”
Purdy concluded by saying that on July 4, which celebrates the United States Independence Day tomorrow, “it is an opportunity to reflect on the future and how we can make this country a better place.”
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