There were conversations between the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Northern Command about deploying 'hundreds of thousands' of troops to the southern border amid a migrant surge, according to former Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
There were conversations between the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Northern Command about deploying"hundreds of thousands" of troops to the southern border amid a migrant surge, according to former Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
Esper said he was first informed of this plan by Stephen Miller, an adviser to former President Donald Trump known for his hard-line immigration stance. Miller told Esper in the Oval Office while they were waiting for Trump's arrival,"We need to get a quarter million troops to the border soon," adding,"There is another caravan coming from the south, and we need to stop it."
The former secretary called the idea"simply outrageous, unless you're Stephen Miller." He described the Trump adviser as"a slight, unremarkable person with a deadpan gaze that suggested a real lack of humor or warmth," though Esper noted Miller had"both Trump's ear and his voice," providing him with"far more deference than his actual position and qualifications warranted.