Exclusive: Inside Trump's Failed Plan to Surveil the Canadian Border

[demmiblue]

Source: The Nation

In late March, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) requested military support to surveil the US-Canada border with mobile cameras and underground sensors. The request was rebuffed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who feared opposition from the Canadians, according to an internal Pentagon memo obtained exclusively by The Nation.

The memo reveals that CBP sought 916 military personnel to undertake duties at the Canadian border, including operating mobile surveillance cameras, unmanned ground sensors, and motor transportation. Overall, CBP’s request was estimated to cost $145.3 million.

In addition, it would provide 540 military personnel on the southern border—adding to the 5,000 military personnel including military police, marines, planners, and engineers.

The memo, marked for official use only, was sent from Kenneth P. Rapuano, assistant secretary for homeland defense and global security, to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. It was provided to The Nation by a Pentagon official on the condition of anonymity to avoid professional reprisal.

Read more: https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/canada-border-covid-security/

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Link to tweet

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Trump's border obsession is hindering smuggling

surely his cronies have let him know?

[Yonnie3]

2. Was this to prevent me fleeing? n/t

[luvtheGWN]

7. I live 20 minutes from the border and can see Youngstown, NY from my deck

across the Niagara River. We were all just waiting for the border to be closed to non-essential traffic because the last thing we wanted was to see the usual US licence plates in our tourist town.

So yes, we on this side want to keep Americans out until this pandemic is well and truly over. The economic damage will be horrendous, but we'd rather be alive and able to help our town, our province, our country, recover.

So, stuff it up your jumper, tRump.

[Yonnie3]

9. I visited a machine builder and importer in Mississauga

multiple times in the 80s into the early 90s. I never did get down around the corner of Lake Ontario to your neighborhood. I think the earlier trips were actually to Hamilton.

[rocktivity]

17. Yep LOL -- It's just a question of when Americans will begin fleeing into Canada

to either avoid the virus or get better medical care


rocktivity

[Bernardo de La Paz]

18. Wasn't to prevent Canadians abandoning free healthcare and go into higher rates of infection. . . nt

[sarcasmo]

19. Gilead style.

[underpants]

3. Underground sensors?

OMG...they've got C. H. U. D. s

[lagomorph777]

5. They're called "UGS"

Unattended Ground Sensors

[lagomorph777]

4. I was a contractor on Bush Jr's plan to do the same thing.

It also failed spectacularly due to terrible government decisions.

Maybe it's easier to just be good neighbors?

I've since moved to a far happier line of work.

[safeinOhio]

6. Trumpy has been watching too much South Park

[riversedge]

8. Trumpy has been eating too many of the 'two scoops'!! the sugar is mushing what is left of his

so-called 'brain"!!

[Historic NY]

10. Does homeland security have border guards at the Haskell Library?

[link:https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-us-canada-border-runs-through-this-tiny-library|]

[George II]

11. Were they going to put armed guards on the Rainbow and Peace Bridges?

[packman]

12. If you haven't seen it, give it a view

[Mendocino]

13. Akroyd and Candy

[link:

|

[appalachiablue]

21. Beat me to it, lol terrific movie

[Submariner]

14. That has got to be the most under-rated movie I have ever seen

and I've watched it quite a few times.

Every scene in that movie is its own little gem. A work of art. No lousy scenes between good scenes. All great scenes. The Oscar's need to invent a new Oscar award for "best movie we just didn't realize at the time" and give it to this film.

[Renew Deal]

15. It's Canada, you can just walk in.

[gembaby1]

22. Ummmm

No, you can’t.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

24. Not anymore you can't.

[mahannah]

16. JCS "feared opposition from the Canadians" but not from us

[gembaby1]

23. Canadians were disgusted with the idea and started making fun of it.

The reason why is because we felt that Trump was insinuating that we had a bigger problem with COVID-19 than the U.S.

The fact was that the U.S. had the biggest problem with it than any other country in the Americas. Yet he used the situation to send more troops to the Mexican border. So, to seem fair, he contemplated sending troops to the Canadian border. Fact was you were getting it from Europe and Asia.

So, Canada protested that it was ridiculous. No Canadian would ever want to visit or sneak into your country then and now. Not even Mexicans would want in.

However, no, you can’t just come over the border. They have shut it down with the exception of essentials. We have no problem with that!

[LudwigPastorius]

20. He's got spongiform encephalopathy from all those Big Macs.

That's the only explanation for this. Holes in his brain.

[amcgrath]

25. Canada represents no threat to the USA

And more importantly, Americans do not feel that Canada presents any threat. Trumps demands for more border security would be used to assure racist southerners that Trump was doing everything to keep the (unnamed) border safe - or he would just simply get the troops and the equipment and ship it South for the same reasons.

Trump has achieved nothing. All he has done is significant harm. He still thinks he can maybe hold the voters with tough talk about borders.