Big news is breaking from Washington D.C.
President Trump has ordered the Armed Forces Reserve to active duty through an executive order.
The president gave Secretary of Defense Mark Esper permission to call up to 200 Selected Reservists at any one time to duty to fight drug cartels.
While most of the media coverage has been on the COVID-19 pandemic, drug lords and smugglers are taking advantage of the distraction.
They’re exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to smuggle more drugs into the United States through the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
Last year, over 280 metric tons of drugs were confiscated in the area.
The White House published the Executive Order on Ordering the Selected Reserve of the Armed Forces to Active Duty on April 30, 2020.
The Executive Order by President Trump reads:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 12304 of title 10, United States Code, and having determined that it is necessary to augment the regular Armed Forces of the United States for a named operational mission, specifically the “Enhanced Department of Defense Counternarcotic Operation in the Western Hemisphere,” I hereby order as follows:
Section 1. Activation Authority. The Secretary of Defense is directed to order to active duty for not more than 365 consecutive days, any units, and any individual members not assigned to a unit organized to serve as a unit, of the Selected Reserve under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Defense, not to exceed 200 Selected Reservists at any one time, as he considers necessary.
Sec. 2. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
DONALD J. TRUMP
THE WHITE HOUSE,
April 30, 2020.
This is BIG news!
It is yet another promise that the president is keeping: protecting Americans from drugs that pour across our border.
Even as the pandemic rages and even as the media attempts to discredit his every move, President Trump is focused on keeping America safe!
The United States is facing challenges on multiple fronts.
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a terrible toll on human life.
The economic destruction that has resulted from social distancing measures has cost millions of American jobs.
And even now, criminals and drug cartels are attempting to sneak drugs across the U.S. border.
NTD has more details on what this executive order means:
President Donald Trump on Thursday authorized the Pentagon to call select armed forces reservists to active duty as part of a counternarcotics operation announced early this month.
In an executive order, the president ordered the secretary of defense to call up to 200 personnel from the reserve at a time to serve as part of the military’s enhanced operation against drug cartels in the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The executive order limited the term of service to one year.
The Navy has already deployed warships to the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea as early as April 1 as part of an operation to counter drug cartels, which, according to U.S. intelligence, are actively planning to exploit the CCP virus pandemic to smuggle more drugs into the United States.The intelligence community has long been aware of the drug cartels’ naval routes in the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, but authorities have been short on resources to interdict all of the drug traffic heading to the United States. Last year, the United States seized 280 metric tons of drugs in the area.
The United States is in possession of intelligence showing that the cartels are looking to exploit the crisis to smuggle more drugs into the country, according to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley.
The enhanced mission has been months in the making. The formal launch on April 1 came days after the Justice Department indicted Nicholas Maduro, Venezuela’s illegitimate socialist dictator, and members of his inner circle and military. They are accused of leading a narcoterrorist conspiracy responsible for smuggling up to 250 metric tons of cocaine a year into the United States—about half of it by sea.
There is no indication at this time that any military action against Venezuela is being planned.
However, Trump has long insisted that he will consider every option on the table when dealing with a threat.
It's that strength and leadership that continues to keep America safe today!
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