Border security

Troops on the border: Trump ups ante in immigration battle

Until the wall along the border with Mexico can be built, US troops will be deployed to prevent illegal crossings, President Donald Trump has announced.

“Until we can have a Wall and proper security, we’re going to be guarding our border with the military,” Trump said on Tuesday, at a working lunch with presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania at the White House.

“We cannot have people flowing into our country illegally, disappearing, and by the way, never showing up for court,”the US president added.

No details were made available about the possible troop deployment. Trump said he had discussed the deployment with US Defense Secretary James Mattis, who was present for the talks with the Baltic leaders about bolstering the security along their borders with Russia.

Trump’s electoral promise to build a “big, beautiful Wall” along the southern US border ran into a roadblock last month, when a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill allocated only $1.6 billion towards repairing existing border fences. Many of Trump’s supporters were outraged, accusing the president and his party of caving to opposition Democrats.