White House defends National Guard border deployment

Source: Politico




By ELI OKUN 04/08/2018 09:18 AM EDT

White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert on Sunday defended President Donald Trump’s move to send National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, saying illegal immigration is “a problem of a proportion at this point that can’t go unaddressed.”

The Trump administration saw a 200 percent increase last month in year-over-year border apprehensions, amounting to more than 50,000 people, Bossert said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Border apprehensions have fallen in recent years. But Bossert said the recent sharp rise, combined with an expected seasonal uptick next month, necessitated the deployment.

“We’ve got a leaking boat on our border, and we’re all quibbling with how much water’s in the boat. … What we’re doing is taking action now at the appropriate time instead of waiting as others have in the past,” he said.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/08/national-guard-border-mexico-508180