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Banks Talks to AZ Republic, KJZZ About Deportation Flights and the Use of the Military at the Border

January 30, 2025

Arizona Republic,KJZZ Radio

William C. Banks

William C. Banks


The number of active-duty troops at the border is growing, and executive orders have expanded federal authorities' reach. The Trump administration, now in its second week, has signaled big changes in how the U.S. tackles immigration, cartels and cross-border crime.  

The Pentagon announced it would send 1,500 active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border after President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency on his first day back in office. The administration is also using military planes to conduct dportation flights.

William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs, tells KJZZ the flights are possible because of Trump’s emergency declaration at the border. “In doing so, he evoked a series of statutes under something called the National Securities Act. Gives him additional authorities beyond his everyday authorities,” he says.

Banks says that includes being able to use the military to support border enforcement efforts. “He can instruct the Pentagon to do something, what’s called re-program money from one project to another to pay for the flights,” he says.

In the Arizona Republic article, “Trump is sending troops to the border. What that means in Arizona,” Banks says, “The premise of the Insurrection Act is that all hell is broken loose, so we can bring the military into to do everything. To enforce the laws. To operate facilities. To do whatever the president says they need to do.” 

The act was written with a practical purpose in mind―to step in where the civilian government has lost control. “I can't imagine those circumstances at the southern border,” he says.  


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