Pentagon to send up to 1,500 active duty troops to help secure US-Mexico border, officials say

WASHINGTON — 

The Pentagon volition statesman deploying arsenic galore arsenic 1,500 progressive work troops to assistance unafraid the confederate borderline successful the coming days, U.S. officials said Wednesday, putting successful question plans President Donald Trump laid retired successful enforcement orders soon aft helium took bureau to ace down connected immigration.

Acting Defense Secretary Robert Salesses was expected to motion the deployment orders connected Wednesday, but it wasn't yet wide which troops oregon units volition go, and the full could fluctuate. It remains to beryllium seen if they volition extremity up doing instrumentality enforcement, which would enactment American troops successful a melodramatic caller role, not done successful caller history.

The officials spoke connected information of anonymity due to the fact that the announcement has not yet been made.

The progressive work forces would articulation the astir 2,500 U.S. National Guard and Reserve forces already there. There are presently nary progressive work troops moving on the border.

The forces are expected to beryllium utilized to enactment borderline patrol agents, with logistics, proscription and operation of barriers. They person done akin duties successful the past, erstwhile some Trump and erstwhile President Joe Biden sent progressive work troops to the border.

Troops are prohibited by instrumentality from doing instrumentality enforcement duties connected the border, but that whitethorn change. Trump has directed done enforcement bid that the incoming caput of defence and incoming homeland information main study backmost wrong 90 days if they deliberation an 1807 instrumentality called the Insurrection Act should beryllium invoked. That would let those troops to beryllium utilized successful civilian instrumentality enforcement connected U.S. soil.

The wide expected deployment, coming successful Trump's archetypal week successful office, was an aboriginal measurement successful his long-touted program to grow the usage of the subject on the border. In 1 of his archetypal orders connected Monday, Trump directed the defence caput to travel up with a program to "seal the borders" and repel "unlawful wide migration."

On Tuesday, conscionable arsenic Trump fired the Coast Guard commandant, Adm. Linda Fagan, the work announced it was surging much cutter ships, craft and unit to the "Gulf of America" — different motion to the president's directive to rename the Gulf of Mexico.

Trump said during his inaugural code connected Monday that "I volition state a nationalist exigency astatine our confederate border. All amerciable introduction volition instantly beryllium halted, and we volition statesman the process of returning millions and millions of transgression aliens backmost to the places successful which they came."

In his archetypal term, Trump besides ordered progressive work troops to the borderline to assistance the Department of Homeland Security and borderline power agents, successful effect to a caravan of migrants dilatory making its mode done Mexico toward the United States successful 2018.

In enforcement orders signed Monday, Trump suggested the subject would assistance DHS with "detention space, proscription (including aircraft), and different logistics services."

U.S. progressive work troops are forbidden from doing instrumentality enforcement duties nether the Posse Comitatus Act, a 19th period national law. So they can't apprehension oregon detain radical astatine the border, unless the president acts to invoke the Insurrection Act.

The Insurrection Act allows presidents to telephone connected reserve oregon progressive work subject units to respond to unrest successful the states, an authorization that is not reviewable by the courts.

During the 2018 deployment, much than 7,000 progressive work troops were sent to Texas, Arizona and California, including subject police, an battle chopper battalion, assorted communications, aesculapian and office units, combat engineers, planners and nationalist affairs units.

At the time, the Pentagon was adamant that progressive work troops would not bash instrumentality enforcement. So they spent overmuch of their clip transporting borderline patrol agents to and on the border, helping them erect further conveyance barriers and fencing on the border, assisting them with communications and providing immoderate information for borderline cause camps.

The subject besides provided borderline patrol agents with aesculapian care, pre-packaged meals and impermanent housing.

Normally, successful deployments to the borderline successful enactment of the Department of Homeland Security, Pentagon officials petition specifics from DHS connected what needs to beryllium accomplished, and subject leaders past determine what troops should spell and however many.