In the United States, on U.S. soil, we rarely give combat-trained soldiers—which includes National Guard personnel—the ability to confront or arrest civilians. It only happens during emergencies.

In south Texas, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) just did that. It deputized 300 Texas National Guard personnel, operating under the authority of Texas’s state government, to apprehend migrants and enforce federal U.S. immigration law.

They’ll be doing that in Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley Sector, which covers the borderlands between Falcon Lake and the Gulf of Mexico.

If you’re using soldiers in such a drastic capacity, risking long-term distortions in U.S. civil-military relations, there must be a real emergency going on in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, right?

Wrong. The Sector’s chief says that they’re only apprehending 50 migrants per day right now.

In 2020, the last year before CBP decided to stop publicizing staffing strength, Border Patrol had 3,119 agents in the Rio Grande Valley Sector. Let’s say it’s 3,000 now. Add 300 soldiers and you’re at 3,300 agents or soldiers.

50 migrant apprehensions per day ÷ 3,300 agents/soldiers =

Each agent or soldier is apprehending an average of 0.015 migrants per day.

No emergency. A historic change in soldiers’ ability to confront civilians on U.S. soil—but no emergency.