Maxwell School News and Commentary

The new Veterans in Politics program is designed to help veterans and military family members who aspire to public office or another form of a political career.

"On one hand, it is kind of ridiculous because there is nothing approaching an invasion there," says William C. Banks, professor of public administration and international affairs. "There is no indication that there is a force lining the border that [Customs and Border Protection] couldn’t take care of. But on the other hand, if you take the Cabinet order’s language at face value, and take what the president is saying as credible threats, then it becomes grayer."

Responding to immigration influxes has typically been the purview of the National Guard, such as Operation Jump Start from 2006-2008 under former President George W. Bush, says Professor Emeritus William C. Banks.

"If the Guard is deployed as it has been in the past, there would be little those troops could do to stop crime along the border," says William Banks, professor of public administration and international affairs.