Shutting down the border would have a hugely negative impact on border communities on the US side who rely on a free flow of people going back and forth. Seems like one of those threats that could really fuck up otherwise conservative states just before the election. Makes me wonder if Trump’s (bad) political instincts will win out over advice, or if this is just for show (and he’s not actually going to do jack about it).
ETA: When the Trump admin says it has no intention to do something, it’s often because they have plans to do exactly that. So “We have no intention to shoot people at the border” becomes a pretty ominous statement.
I mean, it’s illegal, but using the National Guard to enforce federal law wouldn’t be legal either. Up until now they’ve always been quite careful as to how the National Guard get deployed so as to not actually have them enforcing immigration law. Trump is, of course, not at all careful. We might wonder just how many laws he’s intending to break…
From what I’ve read, the group’s been shrinking. So not even 15% now.
