CNN
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President Donald Trump’s order for thousands of additional active-duty U.S. soldiers to be sent to the southern border with Mexico comes just two days after President Donald Trump ordered a stronger U.S. military presence, according to people familiar with the matter. It was done.
There are already about 2,200 active-duty troops at the border as part of Joint Task Force North, the U.S. Northern Command’s border mission based in El Paso, Texas. They support the work of U.S. Customs and Border Protection there, performing primarily logistical and bureaucratic tasks such as data entry, detection and surveillance, and vehicle maintenance.
It is not yet clear which troops will be ordered to the border, but the first batch will include around 1,500 troops.
“The first operations against them should begin within the next 24 to 48 hours. As we sit here, they are moving right now,” a senior military official told reporters on Wednesday.
Acting Secretary of Defense Robert Saleses has ordered the Pentagon to begin a troop buildup on the southwest border with 1,500 ground personnel, helicopter and associated crews, and intelligence analysts to help strengthen detection and surveillance operations. He said he was instructed to do so.
Susses also confirmed an earlier CNN report that the US Transportation Command had been directed to prepare US military assets, including military aircraft, for use on migrant repatriation flights.
A military official said four aircraft, two C-17s and two C-130s, were being sent to San Diego and El Paso to support repatriation flights. The air crews of these aircraft are not included in the 1,500 ground forces being sent.
“The Department will provide military airlift to support DHS deportation flights for more than 5,000 illegal aliens from the San Diego, California, and El Paso, Texas areas in Customs and Border Protection custody.” he said in a statement. “DHS will provide onboard enforcement, and the State Department will obtain the necessary diplomatic clearance and notify the host country.”
“This is just the beginning,” Saleseth added.
White House press secretary Caroline Levitt also confirmed the numbers to reporters at the White House on Wednesday.
“President Trump signed an executive order sending 1,500 additional troops to the U.S. southern border. This marks a departure from his first-day action of directing the Department of Defense to make homeland security a core mission of the Department of Defense. It’s coming,” Levitt said.
The Trump administration sparked a scramble within the Pentagon earlier this week, asking the military to prepare for the immediate deployment of up to 10,000 active-duty troops, one official and another person familiar with the matter told CNN. Ta. Military officials have resisted sending so many troops to the border at once because they believe it could take them away from mission requirements in other parts of the world and strain resources. The first official said.
More active-duty troops are expected to be deployed to the border in the coming weeks and months, one of the officials said, with this first wave laying the groundwork for a larger military presence.
A senior defense official denied on Wednesday that the 10,000 number had been floated, but a senior military official said 10,000 “could be a number…but we don’t know. It’s too early to say because it’s in the planning stages.” . Collaborate with our interagency partners. ”
Military officials also said the first 1,500 were chosen because they do not impact other missions or deployment requirements, and because the department is considering the possibility of deploying more troops. He said he would “determine” the potential risks to people in the area. Operation and military preparation.
“This is a really important part of our job, to look beyond a set of global priorities and consider what the risks are to the mission, what the risks are to the military,” the military official said. .
The first batch of 1,500 people includes 500 Marines from Camp Pendleton and the 1st Marine Division in San Diego, another defense official said. Marines are expected to arrive at the border soon and will prepare a full contingency operation to serve as both a quick response force and a long-term solution.
“We have been told to treat this like a national emergency because it has been declared a national emergency,” the official said. “Don’t be surprised if you see Marines being dropped off by helicopter.”
The number of Marines sent as part of the border patrol mission could eventually rise to 2,500, officials said. A senior military official said the Marines were on standby to help respond to wildfires in California, but were relieved of their duties because they were no longer needed.
A senior military official said the 1,500 people also included about 1,000 army personnel, including “battalion headquarters.” Another Pentagon official told CNN that these personnel will primarily be military police. They come from a hodgepodge of Army installations across the country, including Forts Bliss, Riley, Cavazos, Stewart, Carson and Campbell, he said.
A UH-72 Lakota helicopter has already arrived at the border to assist customs and border security. A military official said they carried out their first mission on Wednesday.
There is also a National Guard unit on the border called Operation Lone Star led by the Texas National Guard. Approximately 4,500 National Guard members are currently assigned to the mission, according to the Texas Department of Military Affairs.
Officials said additional active-duty troops sent to the border this week will do much the same work and are expected to join and augment the Northern Joint Task Force.
They will deploy more intelligence experts to help maintain the Border Patrol’s operational readiness, support command and control centers and assess threats and migrant flows, according to sources familiar with the plans.
The force is also expected to increase its aviation assets and support air operations.
It is not clear whether the troops will be armed. However, none of the active-duty soldiers are authorized to perform law enforcement roles such as making arrests or seizing drugs, or to interact with immigrants beyond helping with transportation to and around various immigration facilities. do not have.
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A more than century-old law, known as the Posse Posse, prohibits active-duty U.S. military personnel from entering or exiting domestic law enforcement agencies without permission. Other laws and regulations make it even clearer that the military cannot participate in activities such as arrests and searches, according to a Congressional Research Service analysis.
But in an executive order Monday, President Trump said he would decide within 90 days whether to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows the use of active-duty troops in the country for law enforcement, at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Federal resources along the U.S. southern border have long been stretched thin by the influx of immigrants.
The number of migrants crossing the southern border has declined recently, with Homeland Security officials saying 1,100 to 1,300 people cross the border illegally each day.
But the addition of more Pentagon personnel will allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has been assisting along the border, to move back inland and focus on apprehending undocumented immigrants already in the United States, officials said. is expected.
This story has been updated with additional details.
