Most Back Troop Deployment Only for External Threats

Nearly six in ten U.S. adults think that the president of the United States should only deploy troops to areas within the country in response to external threats. This is according to a poll carried out by Ipsos and Reuters in early October, following the roll out of National Guard troops to several U.S. cities. Among Democratic Party leaning voters, a high 72 percent of respondents took this stance, compared to 51 percent of Republicans.

At the same time, around one in four respondents said that the president should be able to send troops into a state even if its governor objects. Some 48 percent of respondents disagreed with the statement. Among Republicans, 70 percent thought the POTUS should have such rights of power, compared to 13 percent of Democrats.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said that the country faces an “enemy within”, citing issues of crime and homelessness. Experts warn, however, that Trump has been blurring the lines between crime patrols and illegal immigration enforcement, which has helped to drive support for his crackdown on immigrants. According to NPR: “The pattern of National Guard deployments at the same time as increased federal immigration raids and operations has allowed violent crime and illegal immigration to be conflated into a single crisis”.

A majority of Americans (83 percent) agree that the U.S. military should remain politically neutral and not take a side in domestic policy debates. Only 10 percent of respondents said the U.S. military should take a political stance.