The U.S. National Guard is deploying more troops to the U.S.–Mexico border as the Trump administration ramps up border and immigration enforcement efforts.
Gen. Steven S. Nordhaus, head of the National Guard Bureau, said in a statement that about 1,600 National Guard members are deployed along the border but that the bureau will be “developing additional support options to meet USNORTHCOM, USTRANSCOM, and Department of Homeland Security force requirements.”
The statement said that more than 4,100 Texas National Guard troops will also be on duty at the southern border, which was initiated years ago by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as part of his “Operation Lone Star” efforts.
At the same time, the Department of Defense will “provide airlift support for flights operated by DHS [the Department of Homeland Security] to implement the deportation of more than 5,000 individuals detained by CBP [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] at the border sectors in San Diego and El Paso, Texas,” the statement said.
Two C-130 Hercules planes, two C-17 Globemaster aircraft, and UH-72 Lakota military helicopters will be deployed as part of the effort, the Pentagon added.
Since taking office, Trump has issued multiple orders on the border and immigration, including designating an “invasion across the southern border of the United States,” a move that triggers certain executive branch powers, adding his Cabinet “shall take appropriate action to repel, repatriate or remove any alien engaged in the invasion,” according to text provided by the White House. He separately declared that a national emergency exists on the border, requiring an appropriate response.
His orders will also allow U.S. military service members to act as immigration and border enforcement officers as part of Trump’s promised mass deportation program, covering the Ready Reserve and National Guard, military property that could be used as detention space, ground and air transport vehicles, and “other logistics services in support of civilian-controlled law enforcement operations.”
The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 has historically limited the use of military personnel in domestic law enforcement actions. Trump’s orders frame the flow of illegal immigration as a national security threat, which he says justifies his military orders as the U.S. commander in chief.
He also ordered the construction of a wall along the U.S.–Mexico border, a campaign promise that he’s made since 2016, along with deeming international drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations under federal law. That order triggers the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to combat cartels, according to the text.
Other actions include forbidding “catch-and-release” policies that allowed some illegal immigrants to remain inside the United States while they await court proceedings, among other directives.
