The Pentagon will begin deploying up to 1,500 active-duty troops in the coming days to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. officials announced on Wednesday. This marks the implementation of immigration executive orders signed by President Donald Trump shortly after taking office.
On Wednesday, Trump signed an order suspending the entry of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Acting Secretary of Defense Robert Seilassis is expected to sign deployment orders the same day, though it remains unclear which units will be sent to the border. The total number of troops could also change.
Officials spoke about the plans on the condition of anonymity. Currently, around 2,500 members of the National Guard and reserve forces are stationed at the border, but no active-duty troops are deployed there.
The additional troops are expected to assist border agents with logistics, transportation, and constructing barriers. Similar duties were performed in the past under both Trump’s first term and former President Joe Biden.
Federal law prohibits troops from performing law enforcement duties at the border; however, this could change. Trump’s orders direct future secretaries of defense and homeland security to evaluate within 90 days whether to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, which allows the use of troops on U.S. soil to enforce civil laws.
Deploying troops to secure the border is an early step in Trump’s broader plan to expand the military’s role in this area. One of the first executive orders he signed on Monday instructed the defense secretary to create a plan for “sealing the borders” and combating “illegal mass migration.”
The U.S. Coast Guard, whose commander Linda Fagan was dismissed by Trump on Tuesday, announced the same day it would deploy additional vessels, aircraft, and personnel to the “American Gulf,” fulfilling Trump’s directive to rename the Gulf of Mexico.
In his inaugural address on Monday, Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border, stating that “all illegal entries will immediately be stopped” and that the process of “returning millions of criminal immigrants to their countries of origin” would begin.
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During his first term, Trump also ordered the deployment of troops to the border to assist the Department of Homeland Security and border agents, responding to a migrant caravan moving toward the U.S. from Mexico in 2018.
In Monday’s executive order, Trump suggested the military would support the department with “detention space, transportation, and other logistics.”
Under federal law dating back to the 19th century, soldiers are prohibited from performing law enforcement duties, meaning they cannot arrest or detain individuals at the border unless the president invokes the Insurrection Act.
The Insurrection Act permits presidents to deploy reserve or active-duty military forces in response to unrest within states, with courts unable to challenge the decision.
In 2018, over 7,000 troops were sent to Texas, Arizona, and California, including military police, assault battalions, medical units, communication units, and combat engineers. At that time, troops primarily transported border agents along the border, assisted in building additional barriers and fences, and secured certain camps.
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Izvor: Glas Amerike, Foto: AP (Eric Gay)