After 9:00 at night, the Administration issued a Memo dated Tuesday, April 4, 2018, "SUBJECT: Securing the Southern Border of the United States." I had a hard time finding it. Eventually I found it the other day on Jurist, a blog run by law professors and law students at the University of Pittsburgh. Apparently reporters for corporate media either are not interested or do not understand how these things work. The Feds don't just declare that the National Guard will go to the U.S.-Mexican border, there has to be a proclamation federalizing the National Guard detailing the reasons as required by law. Assume that this Memo does that.
At least 6 times the Memo purports to tell the National Guard enlisted personnel what they are supposed to do at the border, phrases like the subject line of the memo: "the defense of our borders," or "securing the southern border," or "protect our southern border," and other variations on those words. What does "securing the southern border" mean that National Guard enlisted personnel are being asked to do?
- Round people up?
- Put children, women, and men in jail?
- Machine gun any undocumented aliens who refuse to go back south of the border, God forbid?
But what does "securing our borders" mean exactly, to a kid in a National Guard uniform? All of these are unlawful orders (not just the last one).
Assuming that they are not pardoned or immune from liability, and whether "just following orders" would or would not be a good defense to liability, it wouldn't mean a thing in an insurance coverage case.
There is no coverage for "just following orders."
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