Deportation Nation, Con't

Somebody at the Trump regime (probably Mad Dog Mattis) figured out that Republicans in the House and Senate might actually be forced to do something if the thousands of Trump's military troops on the border actually violate Posse Comitatus rather than twiddling their thumbs for another month or two, so apparently the end run around that is having Homeland Security deputize law enforcement from just about every other federal agency to do the heavy lifting.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has requested the deployment of civilian law enforcement officers from several other Cabinet departments to the U.S.-Mexico border as early as next week, according to an internal memo obtained by POLITICO.

In what current and former U.S. officials said would be an unprecedented move, the officers — who in most cases have duties entirely unrelated to border security — would help Border Patrol agents repel what the memo calls “migrant caravans originating from Central America.”

The request suggests that personnel with such assignments as guarding diplomats, patrolling national parks, and protecting nuclear weapons might effectively “become Customs and Border Protection personnel,” as one former Justice Department official put it, with the power to arrest border-crossers.

Although the White House position on the request is unclear, such an action would be the latest extraordinary Trump administration effort to crack down on border security amid what President Donald Trump has increasingly cast as an immigration crisis. In particular, Trump has recently depicted a northbound migrant caravan as an attempted “invasion” of the U.S. But there is little evidence that existing border officials are unable to prevent members of the caravan, currently marooned in Mexico, from entering the country.

A senior DHS official who confirmed the memo’s authenticity said the Justice Department has already made a commitment to dispatch officers to the border, and that DHS is actively “working with” other departments named in the memo to determine the availability of law enforcement resources.

The memo was sent to leaders of the departments of State, Labor, Energy, Transportation, Interior and Justice.

In recent months, Trump has ordered thousands of active duty military troops to the border. But they are prevented by a law known as the Posse Comitatus Act from participating in searches or making arrests. Civilians at the departments contacted by Nielsen would not face such a restriction.

“The administration seems to recognize that under Posse Comitatus … the military can’t do something enforcement-wise. So they’re saying, ‘Let’s grab as many law enforcement people and bring them to the border,’” said Leon Fresco, former head of the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation under the Obama administration.

Because I'm sure the Diplomatic Protection Service really wants to be in San Ysidro lobbing tear gas at kids.

Look, I understand the need for a secure border and all, but at this point there's no way Trump's regime should be given benefit of the doubt on anything.  This will be at best a cynical waste o executive branch resources on things they wren't trained to do, and at worst, a ready-made goon squad or Trump to harass anyone darker than a paper bag with.

This is going to be a disaster.