President Trump is at the center of controversy after he said the military could treat migrants who have rocks as if they were armed with rifles.
"They want to throw rocks at the military, our military is going to fight back," President Trump said at a news conference on Thursday.
The migrant caravan of Central Americans who plan to seek asylum in the U.S. is 800 miles away. This week, the Pentagon deployed at least 5,200 troops to the border.
We spoke to retired brigadier general Terrence Woods to determine if President Trump's comments on the military using force, in this hypothetical situation, would be legal.
"I could give you a scenario under which it will be allowed, but I don't think those will be the rules of engagement," Woods said.
Force is not always allowed. A border agent went on trial earlier this year for shooting a migrant who threw a rock over the border fence, though the agent was eventually acquitted of second-degree murder. He is now facing manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter charges in a retrial.
"Obviously, there was no immediate threat to him or the border, but if a mob of 1,000 people were to storm the fence and it starts to bend, then that certainly justifies a lot more action," Woods said.
"If we have a horde of a 1,000 people armed with rocks and other weapons, who all want to come at once and knock over the fence, we could legally meet that with military force," Woods said.
So, we can verify that if the caravan becomes violent trying to overrun the border, it would be legal for the military to fight back.
But Woods doesn't see this scenario playing out.
"I think that was exaggerated political talk," he said.
However, President Trump did backtrack from his comments Friday. The president said he never said troops could shoot migrants, but that if they threw rocks, they would be "arrested for a very long time."