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US President Donald Trump has vowed to fight “an invasion” of illegal migrants
The Pentagon is deploying more soldiers at the border with Mexico to help CBP agents tackle the surge of illegal crossings. The crackdown comes after President Donald Trump declared a national emergency at the border and pledged to sustain “an invasion” of migrants who are entering the US illegally.
“President Trump signed an executive order – 1,500 additional troops to the United States southern border. This comes off of his day-one action … to direct the Department of Defense to make homeland security a core mission of the agency,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday.
Around 2,200 active-duty troops are already stationed at the border as part of Joint Task Force-North, whose headquarters is based in El Paso, Texas. The soldiers are operating together with the National Guard and the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents.
According to CNN, the troops are currently assisting in “mostly logistical and bureaucratic tasks,” such as data entry and monitoring.
Acting Secretary of Defense Robert Salesses said that the Pentagon will dispatch “helicopters with associated crews, and intelligence analysts to support increased detection and monitoring efforts.”
The Pentagon will also “provide military airlift to support DHS deportation flights of more than five thousand illegal aliens from the San Diego, California, and El Paso, Texas, sectors detained by Customs and Border Protection,” Salesses told reporters. “This is just the beginning,” he added.
Overall, Trump is preparing to send around 10,000 troops to the border with Mexico, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing an internal CBP document.
Trump, who took office on Monday, has vowed to protect the country from the “invasion” of illegal migrants. In an executive order signed shortly after inauguration, he said that many undocumented migrants “present significant threats to national security and public safety” and are “committing vile and heinous acts against innocent Americans.”
On Monday, Trump declared a national emergency at the border and shut down a CBP app designed to help migrants make appointments at border crossings.
The US has seen an influx of migrants during Joe Biden’s presidency. Border agents logged a record 2.8 million encounters with migrants in 2023. More than 1.5 million migrants were recorded as “gotaways” – individuals who evaded CBP detection – between fiscal years 2021 and 2023, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
