Yes, we have the troops now - use them. We have NG, we have seasoned active military - a lot of them right here in Texas.
They could serve on a rotating basis and not be far from home.

We have air bases in Texas that could be used for surveillance.

Bottom line, we have the personnel, we have the laws to fix the illegal problem and a lot of our drug problem.
What we lack is some spines in Washington.

Why do we need an excuse for putting troops on the border. It is our first line of defense. They should have been there for the last 60 years.

We did have NG on the border then a 16 year old 'goatherder' - read that lookout for drug carriers - got shot and this country rose up with all it's halo polishers and declared that just shouldn't happen.

The idea we can't have troops on the border is one of those subtle lies the media/our government has been slipping in for decades. Somehow they really have convinced us we can't put troops on our very own border. We can apparently put them on ever other border in the world, just not ours.

Where else in the world should our troops be? - But on our border.

They should be no where else - BUT on our border.

Drugs are certainly part of it - again the profits go all the way up the food chain. Drugs, in my opinion, serve a dual purpose for the powerful. They are more lucrative than oil. They keep a large and getting larger percentage of our young people
useless and manageable. Young people generally are the ones who rebel or at least begin asking the questions. They are the ones who feel they can do something. A good way to keep a country under control is to keep those people hooked on drugs, dependent on the government or crime, or keep them working in meaningless jobs at low wages.

Just me, though, I think drugs, in large amounts are coming in other than across our land borders.