Today I take pen in hand to write and urge you to oppose and Vote NO on S.301 titled - A Bill to Authorize spending 10 billion dollars for Department of Defense support to ‘Secure the Borders’.
Anyone with even a basic knowledge of how to look at a map will know that ‘securing the borders’ is literally impossible. The US Military is expensive to keep in the field, and this is the wrong mission for the soldiers. They are not at all suited to handling women and children, and the experience of the military in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq ought to be proof enough.
With all the logistical support, this will be another grin on our treasury, a cost borne by the US Taxpayer.
What happens if we really need these soldiers deployed to counter a real threat? Even if they are chess pieces in a high stakes game of brinksmanship with an aggressive country to make them back down, they will not be available.
Ten billion dollars has so many other uses. Illegal border crossings are at a four-year low, and Republicans had agreed to increase funding on measures and technology for the Customs and Border Protection agency already at work on this difficult assignment. That bill, as we know, was suddenly upended by Trump.
Ten billion dollars could be used to help those countries south of the border that are having difficulty with the climate crisis that is causing many crops to fail.
If we want Mexico and others help, as they have pledged already as allies and neighbors, antagonizing those nations is a poor way to stop border crossings.
For all these reasons, and especially the human and material cost, I urge you to oppose S.301
Thank you and your staff for your attention to this matter.
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