Dale Brown - Edge of Battle

“The Army National Guard and Army Reserves have a total of seven hundred and fifty thousand personnel,” Jefferson responded. “Of these, about three hundred thousand are infantry, light mechanized, air cavalry, security, and intelligence-trained, appropriate for this mission. If we use just ten to fifteen thousand of them and rotate them to the Border Patrol mission once a month, we can fulfill the manning requirements. The advantage is that these citizen soldiers will be deployed right here, in the United States, close to home. That is a tremendous cost savings and morale booster. It may also be possible to augment some of these forces with volunteers.” He turned to the President and added, “It’s a substantial mission to undertake, sir, there’s no question. It might mean fewer infantry, support, logistics, and intelligence forces available to augment the active-duty force…”

“Assuming you use each unit just one monthly rotation per year, that means over one hundred thousand troops per year,” Chief of Staff Kinsly pointed out. That’s over a third of all Guard and Reserve units assigned just to border security!” He turned to the President and went on: “That’s major, sir. That’ll send an awfully in-your-face message to the Mexican government, to the Hispanic population, and to civil rights and immigration rights groups.”

“I want to hear about the plan first, Tom,” the President said irritably, “before I hear about potential political problems. One headache at a time, please.”

“I see men and equipment for surveillance and detention,” Secretary of Homeland Security Lemke pointed out, “but nothing for actually stopping anyone from crossing the border. Seems to me you’re not solving the problem here, Sergeant Major—we can see them, but we can’t stop them. Your ten thousand troops per month are only there to support the surveillance stuff—how many more will you need for patrol and apprehension? Or are you just going to rely on the Border Patrol?”

“We can always increase the size of the Border Patrol,” Jefferson responded, “but I have another suggestion: using CID units.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Kinsly moaned.

Jefferson turned to Jason Richter, who stepped back to the lectern: “The CID units have the right capabilities for this mission, sir,” he said. “They’re fast, have better rough terrain capability than Humvees, they can carry a lot of heavy equipment, and they can perform other missions such as search and rescue, medevac, armed intervention…”

“What about your other task force missions, Major?” Jeffrey Lemke asked. “Won’t this slow down your pursuit of the rest of the Consortium? And what exactly will these CID units do?”

“They receive surveillance data from the unmanned aircraft or from ground sensors on anyone observed to cross the border and respond to the location to investigate,” Jefferson said. “If it encounters any illegal migrants, they can detain them until Border Patrol officers arrive to make an arrest.”

“Let’s get to the bottom line, Sergeant Major,” the President interjected. “What’s this plan going to cost?”

“Personnel costs are approximately one hundred thousand dollars per month per base, or one hundred twenty million dollars per year. Total manpower required is approximately twenty-five hundred soldiers rotated among the facilities every week, or a total manpower commitment of ten thousand troops per month, or one billion dollars per year. Cost to operate the ground vehicles is eighty million dollars per year; cost to operate the helicopters and UAVs is approximately eight hundred million dollars per year. We estimate we will have approximately twenty-five thousand detainees in custody in our facilities; they will cost another billion dollars a year to feed, house, and provide support for them. This brings the total cost of this program to approximately three billion dollars a year, plus approximately a billion dollars to build the bases themselves.”

Lemke looked at the briefing slides projected onto the screen before him. “What about these detention facilities, Mr. Jefferson? Assuming your reaction teams work as advertised, what do you propose to do with the detainees you capture?”

“They will be held in detention facilities at each surveillance base until processed, sir,” Jefferson replied. “Each base will have facilities to house two hundred and fifty detainees. We anticipate that detainees will be held a minimum of thirty days until their identities, political status, and criminal records are checked; repeat offenders will be detained for longer periods of time, or transferred to other federal facilities.”

“You’re going to arrest them, Jefferson?” Lemke asked. “Women, children, old men— arrest them just for trying to cross the border, make a better life for themselves, and do work that others won’t do?”

“No, Mr. Secretary—we’re going to arrest them because they broke the law,” Jefferson said. “I did check, sir, and the United States still does have a law against crossing the borders outside of legal border crossing points or ports of entry. It does not mention any extenuating circumstances. There is no age limit, medical qualification, or lawful purpose for doing so except for political asylum: it is still illegal.”

“Don’t get smart with me, Jefferson!” Lemke snapped. “I’m very well aware of the law—I’m the one chosen to enforce it, not you.”

“And I’m very well aware of my duties, Mr. Secretary,” Jefferson shot back. “There is a national security issue here, especially apparent after the murders of the four Border Patrol agents near Blythe.”

“If the attackers were wearing uniforms and helmets,” the President interjected, “it seems to me there would be no question in anyone’s mind that the United States was under attack and that there was a national security deficiency here. Why is there a question now, Jeffrey—because the illegal migrants are old, young, or female?”

“To me, sir, it’s a question of whether someone committing an illegal border crossing is entitled to due process,” Lemke said after an uncomfortable pause, unaccustomed to being queried directly by the President of the United States. “It is assumed, and I think everyone here will agree, that putting the military on the borders by definition means that we’re taking away due process…”

“And I would disagree, Mr. Secretary,” Jefferson interjected. “The military has for many years assisted law enforcement, and it would be no different here. The Bureau of Customs and Border Protection would still be one of the lead agencies involved in Operation Rampart; the military would be in a major support role.”

Lemke held up Jefferson’s presentation outline. “I think the question of who is in charge would be a subject of considerable debate, Sergeant Major Jefferson, since you propose putting a military officer in charge of the operation,” he said. He dropped the outline back on the table and shook his head as if very frustrated and confused. “So your task force finds and detains the migrants crossing the border and you put them in your detention facility. Are they allowed to be bailed out?”

“They are subject to normal criteria for release imposed by a federal judge,” Jefferson replied. “As far as I’m aware, the prevailing criteria are government-issued identification, U.S. resident or resident alien status, a verified U.S. address, and no outstanding wants or warrants. Most illegal migrants would not fall under these criteria and would probably be held without bail or at a higher bond amount.”

“So you’re going to build a hundred of these Guantanamo Bay–like prison facilities right here in the U.S.?” Lemke asked incredulously. “Are they allowed to have legal representation, or do we just allow the International Red Cross to visit them?”