The Pentagon is ordering roughly 1,500 more active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, adding to the roughly 2,200 active-duty forces already there to support the U.S. Northern Command's border mission out of El Paso, Texas, according to reports Wednesday.
The order comes after President Donald Trump said that the military must increase its presence to bolster border security, reports CNN, quoting officials familiar with the order.
The active-duty forces at the border are part of Joint Task Force-North, U.S. Northern Command’s border mission based out of El Paso. They help support the U.S. Customs and Border Protection mission to secure the border.
Acting Defense Secretary Robert Salesses is expected to sign the deployment orders as early as Wednesday, according to The Associated Press.
Traditionally, troops stationed at the border perform logistical tasks such as data entry, detection and monitoring, as well as vehicle maintenance, freeing up the Border Patrol so it can make arrests and perform other law enforcement duties.
A law dating back more than 100 years bars active-duty troops from performing law enforcement duties unless they are authorized.
A Congressional Research Service analysis shows that other laws and regulations bar them from making arrests and performing searches.
Trump said in an executive order Monday that he plans to decide within 90 days whether he will invoke the Insurrection Act at the U.S.-Mexico border. This would allow him to use the active duty troops for law enforcement and arrests.
Trump ordered 5,200 troops during his first term in office to help secure the border with Mexico. Former President Joe Biden also deployed active-duty troops.
Trump's order on Monday instructed the Pentagon to send as many troops as needed to obtain "complete operational control of the southern border of the United States."
The Texas National Guard also heads up "Operation Lonestar," with roughly 4,500 National Guardsmen stationed at the border, according to the Texas Military Department.
Military officials said the active-duty troops could also help the Border Patrol by helping in command centers and providing intelligence specialists who assess migrant flow and threats. They are also expected to help with air operations and boost air assets.
The number of migrants coming into the United States dropped drastically in recent months after Biden's order tightening up rules on asylum seekers. A Homeland Security official told CNN that 1,100 to 1,300 migrants are now crossing the border illegally every day.
With reporting from The Associated Press and Reuters
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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