Pentagon to send additional troops to help secure US border with Mexico
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The new reinforcements would take the total number of active-duty troops at the border to about 9,000.
PHOTO: AFP
Eric Schmitt
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WASHINGTON – The Pentagon is sending about 3,000 additional troops to the US’ south-western border, rushing to comply with President Donald Trump’s order to increase the military’s role in stemming the flow of migrants into the country.
Armed infantry and support troops from the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson in Colorado – one of the US Army’s most seasoned combat units – are expected to be deployed within days, said two Pentagon officials on March 1, after Mr Trump’s declaration on his first day in office that US military forces would confront what he called an “invasion” of migrants, drug cartels and smugglers.
Combined with 1,100 support troops from the military’s Northern Command announced on Feb 27, and the recently arrived headquarters personnel from the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum in New York, the reinforcements announced on March 1 would take the total number of active-duty troops at the border to about 9,000, Defence Department officials said. The Washington Post reported the additional troop mobilisation earlier.
This will be the second major wave of active-duty troops sent to secure the border since Mr Trump took office on Jan 20. About 1,600 US Marines and Army soldiers arrived soon after the inauguration, joining 2,500 Army reservists called to active duty who were already there.
Dispatching large numbers of front-line combat forces indicates that Mr Trump is breaking with past presidents’ recent practice of mostly limiting deployments along the US-Mexico border to small numbers of active-duty soldiers and reservists.
So far, active-duty troops have been helping to build barriers and support law enforcement agencies, as have active-duty and reservist forces sent to the border in past years, including during Mr Trump’s first term.
But Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on his first full official day on the job in January that “whatever is needed at the border will be provided”.
The deployments come even as the state of the border is fairly calm, with crossings having fallen sharply in recent months after the Biden administration took steps to limit migration
The headquarters personnel of the 10th Mountain Division, including its two-star commanding general, recently arrived at Fort Huachuca in Arizona to oversee the border operation. NYTIMES
