A provision in House Democrats’ defense policy bill would require the Pentagon to reveal locations of every troop deployment on the U.S.-Mexico border, including where they are housed, raising fears among activists that the language is intended to be a road map for antifa attacks on American soldiers.
Democrats say the new provision “formalizes” information the Defense Department already provides, though with a new focus to reflect the realities of President Trump’s border policies.
But the demand — and particularly the request for housing information — struck Andrew R. Arthur, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, as nefarious.
“Think about the harm that could come from the disclosure of such information,” Mr. Arthur wrote in a memo questioning the reason for the language. “Imagine what would happen if it became public that the Holiday Inn in Yuma houses troops who are supporting [Customs and Border Protection]?”
He said anti-enforcement activists could organize boycotts of establishments that provide the housing. Worse yet, he speculated, the smuggling cartels use the information to plan their drug and people smuggling activities.
“Good luck with keeping this information under wraps. Congress plainly wants this information to be in the public sphere,” Mr. Arthur said.
Thousands of troops were deployed to the border over the last year to help stem the surge of caravans of migrants. They are assisting Customs and Border Protection by manning surveillance cameras, flying air missions and providing logistics support — though they are not supposed to be engaged in actual enforcement.
The deployments are as controversial as the rest of Mr. Trump’s border policy, with critics saying it’s stretching the military and creating too much entanglement between the troops and domestic law enforcement.
House Democrats sought to push back in their defense bill, which cleared the chamber in July.
The bill would require the Pentagon to list every deployment, with a justification. It also would require cost estimates and information about what the military units might have been doing had they not been sent to the border.
And, in one section, the bill requires “a map indicating the locations where units so deployed are housed.”
Mr. Arthur blamed the provision on Rep. Adam Smith, the Washington Democrat who is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and who has been a critic of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies.
Monica Matoush, a spokeswoman for Mr. Smith and Democrats on the House committee, dismissed Mr. Arthur’s speculation.
She said the Defense Department routinely provides information to Congress about its role at the U.S.-Mexico border, and the new provision “formalizes” that exchange.
She said it became clear in some of those recent exchanges that lawmakers wanted even more specific information on troop deployments.
“With the increase of active duty military personnel at the border, Congress revised its information requirement in line with the increased requirements for support to better understand any potential effects on readiness and the associated financial implications,” Ms. Matoush said.
Mr. Smith is negotiating with Senate Republicans over a final compromise. The Senate bill does not contain the stringent reporting requirement.
The defense policy bill is considered Congress’s one must-pass piece of policy legislation, and a version has cleared every year for nearly six decades.
But this year is proving tougher than most, and Mr. Smith says Mr. Trump’s border wall is the biggest sticking point.
Democrats are still smarting over Mr. Trump’s move this year to go around Congress and funnel extra money to wall building, culling it from the Pentagon’s budget.
Mr. Smith said any bill that doesn’t curtail the president’s wall-building money would have a tough time passing the House.
Ms. Matoush said there are “no final decisions” on whether Mr. Smith will demand the reporting requirements be included in whatever final compromise the House and Senate do reach.
The office of Rep. Mac Thornberry, the top House Republican negotiating the final defense bill compromise, declined to comment citing the ongoing negotiations.
Senate Republicans’ top negotiator is Senate Armed Services Chairman James Inhofe of Oklahoma. His office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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