At least America will have a border wall.
Despite violent crime being on a downward
slope for two decades, President Trump has repeatedly said that one
of his goals is to “make America safe again.”
He closed his inauguration speech by vowing, “together, we will
make America strong again. We will make America wealthy again. We will make
America proud again. We will make America safe again, and yes, together we will
make America great again.”
Trump’s plan to accomplish this involves, in part, the
deportation of undocumented immigrants and construction of a border wall to keep
them out, despite data showing that immigrants are no more likely to
commit crimes than native-born Americans.
The WhiteHouse.gov website, for instance, cites the executive order Trump signed on January 25 “to enhance the public safety of the interior the United States through enforcement of immigration laws” as evidence Trump is delivering on his “making America safe again” promise.
The WhiteHouse.gov website, for instance, cites the executive order Trump signed on January 25 “to enhance the public safety of the interior the United States through enforcement of immigration laws” as evidence Trump is delivering on his “making America safe again” promise.
But another, more tangible part of keeping America safe
is making sure the country’s airports, airplanes, trains, and ports are secure.
Yet in order to pay for his $21 billion-plus border wall and the hiring of 5,000 more Customs and Border Protection agents, the Trump administration is planning “to gut the Coast Guard and make deep cuts in airport and rail security,” Politico reports.
Yet in order to pay for his $21 billion-plus border wall and the hiring of 5,000 more Customs and Border Protection agents, the Trump administration is planning “to gut the Coast Guard and make deep cuts in airport and rail security,” Politico reports.
According to budget planning documents obtained by Politico, “[t]he Office of Management and Budget is seeking a 14 percent cut to the Coast Guard’s $9.1 billion budget.” Trump’s budget plan also calls for 11 percent cuts in the budgets for the TSA and FEMA.
Programs on the chopping block include FEMA’s effort to counter violent extremism, terror attack preparation, and the port transit security grant system. The TSA, meanwhile, faces cuts for behavioral detection officers and local law enforcement grants to airports.
Retired Adm. James Loy, a former Coast Guard official
who served as deputy homeland security secretary and TSA administrator under
President George W. Bush, told Politico that the Trump administration’s plan
“is ignorant of what constitutes national security… They simply don’t
understand the equation.”
Politico also talked to Stephen Flynn, a retired Coast
Guard commander, who pointed out that “as you harden the land border you open
up the maritime border… It makes no sense.”
Whether the border wall will even enhance the national
security of the U.S. is debatable. Last year, Reuters reported that
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents don’t think a wall is necessary.
Instead, they seek better equipment and technology.
The “Making America Safe Again” section of the
WhiteHouse.gov site also touts Trump’s January 27 executive order “that enhances
the protections the American People from terrorist attacks by foreign nationals
admitted to the U.S.” — aka, Trump’s Muslim ban.
In the wake of the January 27 order being blocked by a federal judge on
constitutional grounds, Trump insisted that the court’s decision
placed the national security of the U.S. in jeopardy.
But last week, the White House undermined Trump’s
case about the national security urgency of the Muslim ban,
opting to delay the signing of a new one because they wanted to take full
advantage of the position news cycle Trump enjoyed following his speech to
Congress.