First it was a wall. Now a Republican presidential hopeful wants the U.S. to deploy armed soldiers along the Canadian border.
Ben Carson made the proposal Tuesday in his anti-terrorism plan “Seven Steps to a Safer America,” which included a formal declaration of war on the Islamic State and to “fully investigate the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.”
CAIR, a Muslim advocacy group, had previously called Carson’s views reprehensible for suggesting that a Muslim should not be president.
READ MORE: Why does Donald Trump continue to lead in the polls?
Step 6 reads, “President Barack Obama and Congress should immediately deploy the National Guard and military troops to patrol the U.S. southern border as well as designated spots along the northern border.”
His proposal didn’t say what those “designated spots” would be, how many soldiers would be involved or how much the plan would cost.
Carson is not the first GOP candidate to propose beefing up security along the Canada-U.S. border.
READ MORE: Trump defends call for banning Muslims from United States
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was widely derided when he suggested a wall along the Canadian border was a “legitimate issue.” He later dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination.
Carson’s support has decreased in the past few months. He’s now tied in third place with Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida or as low as fourth place, according to the most recent polls. Billionaire Donald trump remains in first place. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is in second.
Immigration and national security were top of the agenda during Tuesday’s Republican debate in Las Vegas. The debate saw Cruz and Rubio clash over several issues of U.S. military intervention, government spying and immigration, while Donald Trump defended his controversial call for banning Muslims from the U.S.
Carson has struggled throughout the campaign on international issues and continued to do so Tuesday night as he avoided questions on about surveillance, terrorism and his qualification to be president.
Comments