LAST NIGHT THE AP RELEASED A DRAFT MEMO FROM THE DEPARTMENT
OF HOMELAND SECURITY THAT WOULD HAVE, AMONGST OTHER THINGS, SENT
100,000 MEMOS OF THE NATIONAL GUARD TO 11 U.S. STATES TO ROUND
UP AND DEPORT UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS --
WE HAVE HAD PREVIOUS CASES WHERE THE NATIONAL GUARD HAS
BEEN INVOLVED IN IMMIGRATION RELATED ISSUES ON BORDER STATES
SOMETIMES, BUT THIS WOULD BE AN EXPANSION TO STATES THAT
TYPICALLY DO NOT SEE THIS SORT OF BEHAVIOR, AND CERTAINLY NOT
ON THE SCALE THAT THIS WOULD HAVE ENCOMPASSED.
BY THE WAY IN
TERMS OF THE STAKES HERE --
THIS WAS RELEASED LATE YESTERDAY AFTERNOON, THE WHITE
HOUSE RESPONDED --
THAT'S SORT OF ACCURATE, WE FOUND OUT LATER
THAT --
IT'S NOT ACCURATE TO SAY THAT IT IS 100% NOT TRUE, THEY ARE
REPORTING ON A DRAFT MEMO -- IT JUST APPARENTLY DIDN'T GET VERY
FAR ALONG THE DECISION CHAIN.
THE MEMO IS 100% REAL, AND THEY ACKNOWLEDGED IT WAS.
TO WHAT DEGREE IT WAS SET TO TAKE EFFECT IS A FAIR POINT.
IT IS A LEAK AND FAKE NEWS AT THE SAME TIME.
I WISH THE MEDIA WOULD BE MORE CLEAR ABOUT WHAT A DRAFT MEMO IS
THOUGH.
IT'S NOT POLICY THAT WILL BE IMMINENTLY IMPLEMENTED.
SO RATHER THAN STOKING HYSTERIA AND FRAMING IT IN SUCH A WAY AS
IF THE NATIONAL GUARD IS ABOUT TO DEPLOY AND RUN PEOPLE UP, I
WISH THEY WERE A LITTLE MORE CIRCUMSPECT, THE AP, BECAUSE
THEY FIRST PUT OUT A TWEET THIS MORNING THAT SAID THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION IS CONSIDERING UP TO 100,000 TROOPS BEING DEPLOYED
ACROSS THESE STATES --
THAT'S NOT REALLY AN ACCURATE REFLECTION OF WHAT STAGE IN
THE POLICYMAKING PROCESS THIS WAS AT.
IT WOULD BE MORE ACCURATE TO SAY THEY WERE CONSIDERING
AT ONE POINT SOME VARIATION ON THIS REPORT.
I THINK MICHAEL IS RIGHT BECAUSE THEN THE BACKLASH IS,
THEY WOULD NEVER DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
WHILE EFFECT IS
SOMEONE IN A RELATIVELY SENIOR POSITION THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD
IDEA TO DRAFT THIS MEMO, WHICH GIVES YOU AN INSIGHT INTO THE
CULTURE AND WHAT THEY ARE WILLING TO CONSIDER THERE.
WHICH
IS WORTH NOTING.
BUT THEY WERE NEVER GOING TO DO IT, SO THE END
RESULT IS WORSE THAN IF THEY NEVER LEAKED THE STORY AT ALL.
WE KNOW LESS NOW.
I THINK IT'S REAL, IN THAT SOMEBODY DRAFTED THAT MEMO, AND
HENCE IT WOULD BE CONSIDERED.
IT'S NOT REAL IN THE SENSE THAT
DONALD TRUMP ALREADY SAID YES, BECAUSE HE DIDN'T.
THAT'S A VERY
IMPORTANT DISTINCTION.
I WOULD CERTAINLY REPORT ON IT, BUT WITH
CLARITY, AS MICHAEL IS ASKING.
I CERTAINLY WOULDN'T HOLD THE
STORY, IT'S AN INTERESTING STORY.
WHAT I'M WORRIED ABOUT IS
IT WILL GIVE THEM IDEAS, BECAUSE I ACTUALLY THINK THAT IF THEY
DID THIS, IT WOULD HAVE TWO RAMIFICATIONS.
ONE IS THAT WE
COULD BEGIN A CIVIL WAR -- I'M OVERSTATING OBVIOUSLY, IT'S
HYPERBOLE, BUT PEOPLE WOULD FIGHT BACK AND GET ANIMATED ON
THIS ISSUE, UNDERSTANDABLY SO, AS PEOPLE ARE BEING ROUNDED UP.
ON THE OTHER HAND, I THINK THAT IT WOULD BE VERY POPULAR WITH
THE RIGHT, AND I THINK PROBABLY WITH A LOT OF INDEPENDENTS.
NOW
I THINK IT'S OUT THERE AND THEY MIGHT THINK THAT MIGHT POLL
WELL, SO WE SHOULD GIVE IT A SECOND THOUGHT.
AMONG HIS FOLKS
--
THEY WOULD LOVE THIS.
I'M NOT JUST TALKING THE ALT RIGHT, I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE
WOULD BE LIKE, HEY, SOMEONE IS FINALLY DOING SOMETHING ABOUT
IMMIGRATION.
SO BE CAREFUL HOW WE PROCEED BECAUSE IT COULD
ACCIDENTALLY TURN REAL.
TRUMP SHOULD BE CAREFUL HOW HE PROCEEDS, BECAUSE CAN YOU
IMAGINE HOW MUCH THE CONSPIRACY THEORY WING ON YOUTUBE WILL
FIGHT BACK WHEN THEY FIND OUT THE NATIONAL GUARD WILL BE
INVADING U.S. STATES?
ACTUALLY, PROBABLY NOT.
WE CAN'T SAY THEY
WOULD NEVER DO THIS, WE KNOW THAT ANOTHER EXECUTIVE ORDER
HAVING TO DO WITH IMMIGRATION IS COMING OUT IN THE NEXT WEEK, AND
ALSO THINK ABOUT HOW SOME OF THESE ISSUES HAVE BEEN DISCUSSED
IN THE PAST.
THROUGHOUT THE CAMPAIGN TRUMP SAID HE WANTS TO
DEPORT MILLIONS OF PEOPLE, HE TALKED PREVIOUSLY ABOUT SETTING
UP A DEPORTATION FORCE TO GO INTO STATES AND CITIES AND DO
THOSE DEPORTATIONS, HE TALKED RECENTLY ABOUT SENDING THE FEDS
INTO CHICAGO TO DEAL WITH THEIR PROBLEMS, SO THE IDEA THAT HE
WOULD SEND THESE NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS AROUND THE U.S. IS HARDLY
WITHOUT PRECEDENT, FROM HIS OWN QUOTES.
AND LETTER MEMBER HOW THIS FROG BOILED IN THE FIRST PLACE
-- IN THE MID-2000s GEORGE W. BUSH TWICE DEPLOYED THE NATIONAL
GUARD TO THE BORDER.
AND BEFORE THE NATIONAL GUARD WAS FOR
NATURAL OR MAN-MADE DISASTERS, MILITARY PROTECTION OF THE
POPULATION OR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE, BUSH EXPANDED IT
TO MAYBE THEY SHOULD GO TO THE BORDER, AND OBAMA EXTENDED THE
FEDERAL LOCAL PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM THAT DEALT WITH THIS
ISSUE.
TO BE FAIR TO THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION THEY THEN CHANGE
THEIR MIND AND THOUGHT IT WAS LEADING TO RACIAL PROFILING AND
WALKED THAT BACK, BUT TWO DIFFERENT ADMINISTRATIONS GOT ON
THAT WAVELENGTH.
NOW THIS HAS
THE PROBLEM OF, IT AUTHORIZES
THESE TROOPS TO ACT LIKE LAW ENFORCEMENT, AND BY THE WAY TO
ASK FOR PAPERS.
AND THAT'S WHERE THE LEFT WOULD FIGHT BACK A LOT,
BECAUSE ALL OF A SUDDEN THAT FEELS A LITTLE LIKE EAST
GERMANY.
AND NATIONAL GUARDS ARE PRINCIPALLY STATE-BASED,
GOVERNORS ARE THE COMMANDERS IN CHIEFS OF THE NATIONAL GUARD IN
THEIR RESPECTIVE STATES.
SO IN ORDER FOR THEM TO BECOME A TRULY
FEDERAL FORCE, TRUMP WOULD HAVE TO ISSUE SOME KIND OF DIRECTIVE
TO SUPERSEDE GOVERNORS IN STATES LIKE OREGON WE CAN'T REALLY
IMAGINE THE GOVERNOR CONSENTING TO THE SORT OF DEPORTATION
FORCE IDEA.
I READ THROUGH THE ACTUAL DRAFT MEMO, AND IN THE VERSION
WE HAVE IT REQUIRED THE GOVERNORS TO CONSENT TO THIS, SO
AT LEAST THEY WERE CONSIDERING THAT, HE DIDN'T APPARENTLY JUST
THINK HE COULD ORDER THEM AROUND BY HIMSELF.
BUT WHILE THIS IS
THE HEADLINE VERSION OF THE MEMO, THE MEMO HAD MULTIPLE
FACETS TO IT INCLUDING COMPREHENSIVE VIEWS OF ALL
BORDER SECURITY OVER THE PAST FEW DECADES, THE HIRING OF 5000
MORE BORDER PATROL AGENTS, AND ALSO DOING A COMPREHENSIVE
REVIEW OF ANY ACTIONS BY STATES THAT HAS THE DIRECT OR INDIRECT
EFFECT OF PROVIDING FUNDING TO THE GOVERNMENT OF MEXICO.
SO
THEY WANTED TO DO A REVIEW OF THAT, WHICH IS INTERESTING AS
WELL.
IT ALSO HAD FUNDING FOR A BORDER WALL.
SO IT'S NOT JUST THE NATIONAL GUARD, IT WAS A CONFERENCE
OF SET OF POLICIES.
IN ONE ARTICLE THEY SAID THAT THESE NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS
WOULD NOT YET BE FEDERALIZED.
IT WAS LIKE, THAT DOESN'T SOUND
GOOD.
AGAIN, THAT'S NOT NECESSARILY IN THE MEMO, BUT
BUSH SENT THEM TO THE BORDER, HERE WE ARE NOW DISCUSSING THE
POSSIBILITY THAT THEY WILL BE ON THE BORDER, AND I'M WORRIED THAT
THE TEMPERATURE IN THIS POT IS GETTING A LITTLE HOT FOR US
FROGS.