The Trump administration just gave the thumbs up to an extra 1,115 service members for deployment to the southern border on Thursday. This move is all part of President Trump’s plan to completely seal off the US-Mexico border. With this latest batch of deployments, the total number of US troops at the border will be nearing 10,000. That’s a huge jump from the 2,500 National Guardsmen that former President Joe Biden had stationed at the frontier when he left office.
Right now, there are over 8,000 service members actively patrolling the US-Mexico border in various roles such as aerial, maritime, and land support. The US Northern Command spokesperson told The Post about the current situation at the border. The new units coming in will bring in “enhanced sustainment, engineering, medical, and operational capabilities” as part of the Department of Defense’s ongoing efforts to take full control of the southern border. The Army’s Expeditionary Sustainment Command members will handle logistics coordination while the Quartermaster Field Feeding Company will make sure the troops are well-fed in the tough environments.
About half of the 1,115 soldiers getting deployed are part of engineering companies, battalions, and brigades. They will be working on construction-oriented missions at the border. Trump’s big agenda bill, which was approved by the House of Representatives, includes a hefty $175 billion in spending on border security. This amount even covers $46.5 billion for new border wall construction. However, the bill still needs the Senate’s approval. It’s worth noting that last month, federal agents encountered less than 10,000 migrants illegally crossing the southern border. This is a significant drop from the more than 128,000 individuals who crossed last April during the Biden administration, as per Border Patrol statistics.
Since Trump took office in January, illegal border crossings from Mexico have decreased to historic lows. Trump’s executive order on border security from Day One directed the US military to protect the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity by stopping illegal migrants, drug smugglers, and human traffickers from entering the country between ports of entry. In addition to sending more troops, Trump has given the green light for the military to take over large portions of federal land along the southern border to achieve their mission.
