Washington, July 25: They are the most highly trained members of the Border Patrol, agents who confront drug traffickers along the US-Mexico border and track down dangerous fugitives in rugged terrain.
One day this past week, they were in a far difference setting — a city park in Portland, Oregon, looking for two people suspected of throwing rocks and bottles at officers guarding the downtown federal courthouse. Also Read | Assam Reports 1,165 New COVID-19 Cases Today, Total Count Reaches 31,086: Live News Breaking And Coronavirus Updates on July 25, 2020.
Beyond the debate over whether the federal response to the Portland protests encroaches on local authority, another question arises: whether the Department of Homeland Security, with its specialized national security focus, is the right agency for the job.
It's not just the Border Patrol Tactical Unit that has been called to duty in Portland. DHS has dispatched Air Marshals as well as the Customs and Border Protection Special Response Team and even members of the Coast Guard. Also Read | India-China Stand-Off: Ongoing Talks Led to Compete Disengagement at PP 14, 15, 17A, Says Report.
“The Department of Homeland Security was never intended as a national police force let alone a presidential militia,” said Peter Vincent, a former general counsel for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is also an agency within DHS.
The deployment of DHS agents and officers is legal, both under existing law and an executive order President Donald Trump signed June 26 to protect federal property and monuments. But it has made the agency, created to improve the nation's response to terrorism, a target of widespread criticism.
Congress plans to delve into the issue Friday, when the House Homeland Security Committee holds a hearing on the federal response to the protests in Portland and Trump's announcement that he plans to send federal agents to Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico, to help combat rising crime while making “law and order” a central theme of his reelection campaign.
“Americans across the country are watching what the administration is doing in Portland with horror and revulsion and are wondering if their cities could be President Trump's next targets,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat who is chairman of the committee.
As of Monday, there were 114 federal agents and officers deployed to downtown Portland, according to an affidavit from Gabriel Russell, the regional director of the Federal Protective Service, the DHS component that provides security for federal buildings.
Protests have been taking place in Portland since May 26 but the federal agents kept a “defensive posture” by staying inside federal buildings until July 3, Russell said in the affidavit, filed in response to a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union seeking protections for journalists and other legal observers covering the demonstrations.
That night, according to Russell, protesters attempted to set fire to the federal courthouse and DHS deployed a Rapid Deployment Force as part of “Operation Diligent Valor.”
That same night, Trump stood before Mount Rushmore and accused protesters around the country who have pushed for racial justice of engaging in a “merciless campaign to wipe out our history.” He later criticized officials in Portland for allowing demonstration to get “totally out of control."
The officers deploying to Portland are “highly trained,” and many wear camouflage because that's their duty uniform on the southwest border, according to acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf, responding to charges of a militarized response to the protests.
In addition to their previous training, they took a 90-minute online course on the mission and jurisdiction of the Federal Protective Service, police powers and criminal regulations, according to a course description provided to The Associated Press.
Richard Cline, principal deputy director of the protective services, told reporters that DHS officers are given additional training to ensure they act within guidelines established by the Justice Department as they assist an organization that was “quickly overwhelmed” by violent demonstrators.
Wolf also defended tactics such as tear gas, rubber bullets and having officers sweep people off the street into unmarked vehicles, evoking images of a secret police force.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)