Reports: 5,000 Troops to Deploy to US-Mexico Border to Stop Migrant Caravan

The U.S. military is planning to deploy 5,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border—a massive increase from the initial 800 to be sent announcement last week—in anticipation of a caravan of migrants moving northward from Central America.

The Wall Street Journal reported on the troop deployment development on Oct. 29, quoting U.S. military and federal law enforcement officials as saying that the troops would be sent to ports of entry.

Later, troops will support Border Patrol authorities building tents, providing medical support, and helping staff and control centers. Military police and engineers from about 10 U.S. Army bases will be sent, as well as some U.S. Marines, an official told the publication.

A caravan of thousands of migrants from Central America, en route to the United States, makes its way to San Pedro Tapanatepec from Arriaga, Mexico, on Oct. 27, 2018. Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

About 1,800 troops will be sent to Texas, 1,700 will be sent to Arizona, and 1,500 will be sent to California. Some troops have already been deployed and most are expected to serve until mid-December, an official was quoted as saying.

But, according to the Journal, a Pentagon spokesman said that any figures about troop deployments are “premature.”

USA Today also reported that 5,000 active-duty military personnel would be deployed. It quoted a Department of Homeland Security official who spoke on condition of anonymity. A formal announcement about the troop deployment is expected later in the day.

The migrant caravan has at least 7,000 people and consists mainly of Central American migrants, but some reports say more than 10,000 are in the caravan. President Donald Trump has stated that he would send the military to the border to prevent their entry. Over the weekend, hundreds more migrants tried to force their way into Mexico at the Guatemala border, calling themselves the “second caravan.”

Honduran migrants, part of a caravan trying to reach the U.S., gesture while arriving to the border between Honduras and Guatemala, in Agua Caliente, Guatemala October 15, 2018. Jorge Cabrera/Reuters

On Oct. 29, Trump wrote on Twitter that “many gang members and some very bad people are mixed into the caravan heading to our southern border.”

“Please go back, you will not be admitted into the United States unless you go through the legal process. This is an invasion of our country and our military is waiting for you!” he wrote.

Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said last week that the agency wasn’t considering allowing troops to enforce immigration law. There will be plans so “we can secure the ports (of entry) to prevent a large group from coming at one time,” McAleenan said, the Journal reported.

“We’re not going to allow a large group to push into the United States unlawfully,” McAleenan also said, according to USA Today in another report. “We can’t have it. It’s not safe for anybody involved.”