For now, #Pentagon and #DHS won’t recommend that #Trump invoke the #Insurrection Act

By Natasha Bertrand, Haley Britzky, Jake Tapper and Priscilla Alvarez, CNN
Fri April 18, 2025

"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will not recommend invoking the Insurrection Act in a memo the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security are preparing to send to President Donald Trump about the conditions at the southern border, multiple US officials familiar with the matter tell CNN.

"The Insurrection Act is a 19th century law that would allow the president to use active-duty troops within the United States to perform law enforcement functions such as arresting migrants. Trump issued an executive order in January declaring an emergency at the southern border that ordered Hegseth and Noem to send him a report within 90 days about the conditions there, and advising whether to invoke the Insurrection Act to help obtain “complete operational control” of the border.

"The deadline for Hegseth and Noem’s recommendation is Sunday, but the Pentagon and DHS are expected to send the memo with their findings to the White House next week, officials said.

"Hegseth and Noem are expected to tell Trump that border crossings are currently low and that they don’t need additional authorities at this point to help control the flow of migrants, officials said. Migrant crossings at the US southern border have been under 300 a day, according to a Homeland Security official — a dramatic drop from recent years when unlawful crossings were well over 1,000 or more a day.

"The US military has deployed thousands of additional troops, including active-duty forces, to the southern border in recent months, but they have been doing patrols, building barricades and providing logistical support to DHS — not conducting arrests.

"Trump officials have been frustrated with the slower pace of interior arrests across the country of undocumented immigrants, and there have been some tense calls about it between the White House and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, multiple sources said.

"But interior arrests often require significant manpower and resources, moreso than detaining migrants as they cross the border. Invoking the Insurrection Act and allowing US troops to get involved in arresting migrants has been viewed by some in Trump’s orbit as a way to help bolster arrest numbers across the country, one official explained."

https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/18/politics/pentagon-dhs-wont-recommend-insurrection-act/index.html

#April20th #BorderEmergency #USPol #ICERaids #BorderPatrol

An excellent read about the possibility of #InsurrectionAct implementation (and if it happens, I'll expect both the border with Mexico AND the border with Canada to be hot-spots. And Maine is a border state...)

What to do if the #InsurrectionAct is invoked

With the Insurrection Act looming, now is the time to learn how it might unfold and the strategic ways to respond — including the power of ridicule.

Daniel Hunter, April 4, 2025

"With President Trump constantly flooding the zone, there’s a chance to think ahead about the possible implementation of the Insurrection Act. One of Trump’s presidential actions calls for the Secretary of Defense and Homeland Security to submit a joint report by April 20. The report will offer 'any recommendations regarding additional actions that may be necessary to obtain complete operational control of the southern border, including whether to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807.'

"President Trump loves direct control and so it strikes me that invoking the Insurrection Act is very likely. This occasionally used provision empowers the president, with few legal limitations, to deploy U.S. military and federalized National Guard troops inside the country.

"Part of Trump’s power resides in constantly growing the myth he can get away with anything. Even when he loses or retreats, he buries the news cycle, with the goal of leaving people feeling more fear than awe. So, when we first hear about the Insurrection Act, it may trigger our alarmism. But better to face it now, before it comes, than learn about it on-the-fly.

"With that in mind, I’m going to walk through some mechanisms of the Insurrection Act, then offer lessons from previously held strategy sessions I took part in that played out various scenarios. I will also offer a few suggestions for activists about what to do about it.

What is the Insurrection Act?

"The Insurrection Act is a dusty law that has gone without updates for 200 years. The original text states: 'That in all cases of insurrection, or obstruction to the laws… the president of the United States [can] call forth the militia [or armed forces] for the purpose of suppressing such insurrection.' (Technically, it is now not just one law but a series of statutes in #Title10 of the U.S. code.)

"One might wonder what the law defines as an 'insurrection,' and it’s woefully undefined. Updated modern language merely calls it 'unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellions.' While the Supreme Court has upheld that the president alone can decide the meaning of these words, it reserved for itself a chance to review the constitutionality of the military’s actions. But the courts would have to enforce that provision."

[...]

"Humor is key for morale and exposing the vulnerability of the strongman image. When Russia effectively banned protests, activists in the Siberian city of Barnaul organized a 'toy protest.' Lego characters and tiny figurines took to the streets. (The humor only grew as the police clumsily 'arrested' all the figurines.)

"After Milošević accused the nonviolent movement Otpor! of terrorism, they organized 'terrorist fashion shows' — where regular folks stood up in their casual every-day wear. ('Clearly a terrorist — look at his glasses! He must be a reader.') Or after their offices were raided, they made a very public 'reentry' into their building with a moving van full of boxes. Media trailed them. As expected, police stopped the van and took the boxes. This turned to humiliation, as police lifted the boxes … and found them all empty, leaving Otpor! the opportunity to say: 'They are fearful of everything.' "

Read more:
https://wagingnonviolence.org/2025/04/what-to-do-if-the-insurrection-act-is-invoked/

#MartialLaw #USPol #WorldPol #CharacteristicsOfFascism #Authoritarianism #April20th #Fascism #MadKingTrump

Celebrating 420 by playing the trippiest game I know, Super Troll Islands on Super Nintendo Entertainment System!

https://youtu.be/HuxggfvXZiw

#nintendo #supernintendo #snes #games #gaming #videogames #retro #retrogames #retrogaming #retrogamer #happy420 #april20th #april20 #trolls #troll

Check out this trailer for #Warlordocracy by Badger for #ScreenshotSaturday. Also, happy 4/20, the day we celebrate congress making Wisconsin a territory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TugSzh6d4GM

#indiegame #indiegames #indiegaming #gaming #crpg #gaming #rpg #april20 #april20th

Pretty long odds on my getting my 420th 3/6 Nerdle solution on game play 777 on 4/20! Like, cool, man!

#Nerdle #Nerdle822 #Nerdlegame #Saturday #420day #April20 #April20th

nerdlegame 822 3/6

⬛⬛🟪🟪⬛🟩⬛⬛
🟩🟪🟪⬛🟩🟩🟩⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

✨📜🖋️✨👀🐲🐯❣️

#PenQuote #April20th #Dream #Hope #Reality #Impossible #CanBecome #Possible #NeverStopTrying