[Inquisitr] In a truly shocking and unprecedented turn of events, the White House authorized the use of "lethal force" at the Mexican border, per a cabinet order signed on Wednesday by Chief of Staff John Kelly, as previously reported by the Inquisitr.This is terrifying news for those who imagine hundreds of immigrants, including women and children, being gunned down by American troops. However, that’s not going to happen ‐ despite the authorization from the White House.
U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis stated that the military police at the border don’t even have weapons. They will not be armed, and they will not have the power to carry out arrests.
"There is no armed element going on," Mattis told reporters on Wednesday, according to the BBC.
Around 3,000 immigrants, mainly from Honduras and Guatemala, are in Tijuana right now. Tijuana is a border city just outside the state of California.
The immigrants are part of a caravan that set out for the U.S. weeks ago, walking for hundreds of miles to flee gangs, drug activity, poverty, and violence in their home countries.
Donald Trump has stated that they are an invasion. Meanwhile, he has deployed around 8,000 active military and National Guard troops at the border, which has been fortified with barbed wire.
Mattis told reporters that the Department of Homeland Security did not ask for lethal force to be authorized. "Relax, don’t worry about it," he said Wednesday.