Defense Department Sending 1,500 Additional Troops to US Border
WASHINGTON — The Defense Department is preparing to send about 1,500 additional active-duty troops to the U.S. border with Mexico, two days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the Pentagon to make homeland security a core mission of the agency.
“This is something President Trump campaigned on, and it’s something the American people have been waiting for a long time — for the Department of Defense to actually take homeland security seriously,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during an impromptu press gaggle Wednesday afternoon.
“This is a number one priority of the American people and the president has already delivered,” she said on the White House driveway just after she made a live appearance on Fox News.
On Monday afternoon, only hours after being sworn in to his second term, Trump signed an executive order declaring illegal immigration a national emergency.
“America’s sovereignty is under attack,” the order said.
“Our southern border is overrun by cartels, criminal gangs, known terrorists, human traffickers, smugglers, unvetted military-age males from foreign adversaries, and illicit narcotics that harm Americans,” the order continued.
“Because of the gravity and emergency of this present danger and imminent threat, it is necessary for the Armed Forces to take all appropriate action to assist the Department of Homeland Security in obtaining full operational control of the southern border,” it said.
As he signed the order, the president said it was his responsibility to “ensure that the illegal entry of aliens into the United States via the southern border be immediately and entirely stopped.”
The number of additional troops being sent to the border is roughly equal to the number of active-duty troops that former President Joe Biden sent to the region in May 2023.
They will be joining an estimated 2,200 active-duty troops already deployed to the border, alongside thousands of National Guard troops.
During his first term, Trump ordered 5,200 troops to the area to help secure the border.
On Wednesday, the president advanced his crackdown on illegal immigration still further, directing the departments of State, Justice and Homeland Security, “To take all necessary action to immediately repel, repatriate, and remove illegal aliens across the southern border of the United States.”
Trump has not indicated exactly what the new troops will do once they arrive on the Texas/Mexico border. Those already there have mostly been handling support and logistical tasks.
“Securing the border and deporting illegal immigrants from this country,” Leavitt said. “President Trump is sending a very strong message to people around the world — if you are thinking about breaking the laws of the United States of America, you will be returned home. You will be arrested. You will be prosecuted.”
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue
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