President Donald Trump ordered a new deployment of around 1,500 troops to the U.S. southern border on Jan. 22, as part of his ongoing effort to halt illegal border crossing and smuggling efforts.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the deployment order in comments to reporters outside the White House on Wednesday.
“This is something President Trump campaigned on. The American people have been waiting for such a time as this for our Department of Defense to actually take homeland security seriously,” Leavitt told reporters.
U.S. troops are already attached to a federal border security mission, dubbed Joint Task Force North (JTF-N). The U.S. Northern Command, which oversees JTF-N, estimates around 2,500 service members are currently attached to this federal border security mission.
On the 2024 campaign trail, Trump repeatedly indicated he would pursue more expansive border security efforts, including increased troop deployments.
Trump signed another executive order on his first day back in office, titled, “Clarifying the Military’s Role in Protecting the Territorial Integrity of the United States.” The order states the U.S. armed forces are to “prioritize the protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United States along our national borders.”
Citing concerns about lax border enforcement under former President Joe Biden, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott launched a separate state-level border security mission in 2021, dubbed Operation Lone Star. This operation has seen the Texas National Guard deploy troops to work with state and local law enforcement agencies to seal off sections of Texas’s border with Mexico and slow the number of illegal border crossings. Republican governors from participating states have periodically deployed their states’ National Guard troops to assist in the operation.
Around 4,500 National Guard troops from participating states are currently assisting Operation Lone Star, according to the Texas Military Department.
Acting Secretary of Defense Robert Salesses, in a Wednesday evening press statement, said additional helicopters and intelligence analysts would also augment the existing military mission on the southern border to provide increased detection and monitoring capabilities.
Salesses said the military would also provide added airlift capabilities to assist the Department of Homeland Security with deportation flights of more than 5,000 illegal aliens from the San Diego, California, and El Paso, Texas, border sectors.
Salesses said the newly deployed troops will also begin assisting in constructing new temporary and permanent barriers along the southern border.
“This is just the beginning. In short order, the Department will develop and execute additional missions in cooperation with DHS, federal agencies, and state partners to address the full range of threats outlined by the President at our nation’s borders,” Salesses said.
