We knew Trump's deployment of the National Guard to our southern border with Mexico would be a waste of time and money, but you don't have to take it from us.
That's what the head of the Border Patrol union says.
"We have seen no benefit," said Brandon Judd, president of the union that represents 15,000 agents, the National Border Patrol Council. [...]
"When I found out the National Guard was going to be on the border I was extremely excited," Judd said, because previous deployments on the border helped alleviate the Border Patrol's workload.
But this time, he said, "that has not happened at all."
If deploying the National Guard was substantively beneficial in the past but hasn't been in this case, what could be the difference?
Well, previous presidents deployed the National Guard in response to specific needs or requests but Trump decided he would deploy the Guard and then searched for an excuse to do so later. Trump's deployment did not come in response to a specific need or request. It was a politically-motivated deployment.
If you deploy the Guard with no clear mission other than landscaping duty, of course it's not going to be a benefit.