Donald Trump Is Sending Park Rangers to the Border to Help Enforce His Immigration Policies

[babylonsister]

Donald Trump Is Sending Park Rangers to the Border to Help Enforce His Immigration Policies
Yogi Bear must be thrilled.
Jessica Kutz

This story was originally published by High Country News and is shared here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.


In southern Nevada, where the Mojave meets the Great Basin Desert, two US Fish and Wildlife Service law enforcement officers are responsible for patrolling the entire Desert National Wildlife Refuge complex. Their job comes with a diverse set of responsibilities: enforcing hunting and fishing regulations, stopping park vandalism and rescuing stranded visitors, among other things. At 1.6 million acres, this is the largest wildlife refuge in the country outside of Alaska, home to over 500 plant species and the desert bighorn sheep, Nevada’s state animal. So why are these two officers being sent hundreds of miles away from the refuge on rotating missions to the US-Mexico Border?

Their deployment is part of a pilot program launched in May of 2018 under then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, described as a “surge operation” meant to help with border security. “President Trump and I are 100% committed to keeping our border communities and the American people safe and secure,” Zinke said at the time. Twenty-two law enforcement officers were sent to federally managed public lands along the border, including Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona and Amistad National Recreation Area in Texas.
“President Trump and I are 100% committed to keeping our border communities and the American people safe and secure.”

So far, the department has been tight-lipped about the program’s details, including the cost of deployments, the work being done and any future plans. At the beginning of this year, High Country News filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to find out more about its effectiveness. Interior’s move appeared to be part of a pattern of similar deployments of National Guard and military personnel, whose recent efforts to reinforce the US-Mexico border with concertina wire at the US-Mexico border have been much criticized. And while officers have been detailed to the border for specific field missions under previous administrations, there has never been an open-ended rotation of Interior Department personnel, according to public-lands advocates. With national parks already seriously understaffed, the question arises: How does drafting park law enforcement officers to assist with immigration enforcement affect resource and visitor management at home parks and public lands?

The program continues to grow, but oversight is lacking. On May 15, it was reported by the Hill that 47 Interior Department officers were currently assigned to the border—more than twice the previous number. This leaves public-lands advocates worried about the effects of their absence on the lands these employees are actually charged with protecting. “The Park Service visitation has gone up significantly over the last decade, but the number of law enforcement rangers is down,” said Jeff Ruch, Pacific Field Office director for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a nonprofit that helps employees hold the federal government accountable. Nor is it clear what need these officers are responding to, unless it‘s simply to fill “rhetorical or political gaps,” Ruch said. “We don’t know, because the information isn’t out there, except in a cursory fashion.”

more...

https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2019/06/donald-trump-is-sending-park-rangers-to-the-border-to-help-enforce-his-immigration-policies/

[machoneman]

1. The Dork-in-Chief is trying to build a case about how overwhelmed the in-place border folks are.

Next, he'll send the WH cooks and waiters to the border as Trumpy's sole desire is for McDonald's fast-food burgers anyway!

Wish he'd send Kellyskank Spinway and old Smoky-eye Sanders as well. Throw in that slimy Miller too!

[tanyev]

2. Just as the tourist season is kicking off.

What a geeeeeeenyus.

[dhill926]

3. excellent idea what with summer and the fire season on their way....

the stable genius at work again...

[CatMor]

4. He is so obsessed with the border ....

It's seems to be making him even more mentally ill than he has always been.

[rickford66]

5. The Meter Maids are being held in reserve.

A tough bunch you may have encountered in any fair sized city.