Pentagon orders extra 1,500 troops to US-Mexico border as Trump cracks down on immigration
Border security is a key priority for the US president, who declared a national emergency on his first day in office
The US military will send 1,500 additional active-duty troops to the border with Mexico, the White House said on Wednesday, just two days after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on immigration.
The additional troops include 500 US Marines, as well as US Army helicopter crews and intelligence analysts. They will join 2,200 active duty troops and thousands of National Guard that were on the border prior to Trump’s inauguration this week.
During his first term, Republican Trump ordered 5,200 troops to help secure the border with Mexico. Democratic former president Joe Biden deployed active-duty troops to the border as well.
“This comes off of (Trump’s) day one action … to direct the Department of Defence to make homeland security a core mission of the agency,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
A separate official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said there had been informal discussions about sending as many as 10,000 troops over time.
