EL PASO, Texas — The armored military vehicles President Donald Trump has sent to the U.S.-Mexico border weigh 50,000 pounds apiece and have thermal and infrared cameras said to be able to spot “a little mouse up to a mile out.”
That feature might appeal to Trump, who has referred to people who cross the border without authorization as “rats” who “infest” the nation.
Last week, when a soldier emerged from one of the hulking eight-wheelers, armed with a pair of binoculars and a grimace, he briefly turned his attention away from the U.S.-Mexico border.
He turned over his left shoulder, looking inward at the United States — and at me.
He was one of the approximately 10,000 members of the U.S. military who are now stationed at the border, many of whom now patrol areas where, according to the president, they have the authority to detain civilians.
