Michigan National Guard will deploy today to the US/Mexican border, but for what purpose?

Yesterday, Governor Whitmer’s office posted a Media Release stating:

On October 17, approximately 120 Soldiers assigned to the Michigan Army National Guard’s (MIARNG) 1430th Engineer Company, based out of Traverse City, will gather with their families and invited guests at Lawson Ice Arena in Kalamazoo as they prepare to depart for their deployment to the Southwest Border to support the federal law enforcement mission.

The Media Release goes on to say:

The 1430th Engineer Company will deploy in support of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) mission along the Southwest Border. Under the direction of U.S. Northern Command and Joint Task Force North, their mission is to assist CBP. The Soldiers will provide mission enhancing support to CBP’s border security operations to enable CBP agents to conduct their law enforcement mission. The 1430th Engineer Company last deployed to Afghanistan in 2010. The Soldiers are anticipated to be deployed for up to a year.

Not surprising, commercial news agencies like MLive posted a story about the deployment, but essentially just reworded the Media Release.

Bridge Michigan also included the Media Release language, but did explore the matter a bit more by stating:

Michigan Republican legislative leaders last year had requested state funds to send National Guard troops to the border. At the time, Whitmer’s office said she was serious about immigration and border security but that “the American people want real solutions.”

Illegal border crossings have plummeted this year under Trump. Border Patrol officials reported 204 apprehensions per day in August, a 94% reduction from 2024, according to the administration. 

While the Bridge Michigan article did explore other aspects of the deployment, they only rely on US Customs and Border as a source to verify the claims that the number of people crossing without papers has reduced.

The Media Release from Governor Whitmer’s office also included one other bit of information, which states:

This will be the sixth deployment to the Southwest Border for the Michigan National Guard since 2020. Governor Gretchen Whitmer approved prior deployments to the Southwest Border, in 2021, 2022 and 2024 under President Joe Biden, and in 2020 under President Donald Trump.

What this says to me is that Governor Whitmer has consistently supported sending Michigan National Guard troops to the US/Mexican border, no matter who sits in the White House. What this doesn’t tell me is that there is no evidence that such deployments make communities safer. In fact, what National Guard deployment to the US/Mexican border does is to force undocumented immigrants to cross into the US at the most dangerous parts of the border. These facts have been well documented by the group No More Deaths, which you can find here.

Todd Miller, who has written numerous books about the US/Mexcan border also founded https://www.theborderchronicle.com/. There you will find a significantly different narrative about the US/Mexican border, a narrative that is not rooted in state carceral violence.