More than 1,000 active-duty troops will head to southern border
FILE-U.S. soldiers install barb wire by the US-Mexico border fence in El Paso, Texas state, US, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico on April 4, 2019. (Photo credit should read HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
The Pentagon will start deploying as many as 1,500 active duty troops to help secure the southern border in the coming days, U.S. officials told the Associated Press Wednesday.
This move comes shortly after President Donald Trump laid out in executive orders shortly after he took office to crack down on immigration.
Trump directed the defense secretary to come up with a plan to "seal the borders" and repel "unlawful mass migration."
Pentagon to send 1,500 troops to southern border
President Donald Trump is sending 1,500 troops to the southern border. Trump said in a statement, "America’s sovereignty is under attack. Our southern border is overrun by cartels, criminal gangs, known terrorists, human traffickers, smugglers, unvetted military-age males from foreign adversaries, and illicit narcotics that harm Americans, including America."
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In executive orders signed Monday, the president implied that the military would help the Department of Homeland Security with "detention space, transportation (including aircraft), and other logistics services," the AP noted.
According to the AP, Acting Defense Secretary Robert Salesses was expected to sign the deployment orders on Wednesday, but it wasn't clear which troops or units will go, and the total could change.
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It's unknown if the troops will end up doing law enforcement, which would put them in a dramatic new role, not done in recent history.
The AP reported that active duty forces would join the roughly 2,500 U.S. National Guard and Reserve forces already there. There are currently no active duty troops working along the border.
Have troops been sent to the southern border before?
The backstory:
In his first term, then-President Donald Trump ordered active duty troops to the border to help the Department of Homeland Security and border control agents, in response to a group of migrants slowly making their way through Mexico toward the United States in 2018.
The AP noted that during the 2018 deployment, over 7,000 active duty troops were sent to Texas, Arizona and California, including military police, an assault helicopter battalion, various communications, medical and headquarters units, combat engineers, planners and public affairs units.
Can troops arrest or detain people at the southern border?
U.S. active duty troops are prohibited from doing law enforcement duties under the Posse Comitatus Act, a 19th century federal law. This means troops can’t arrest or detain individuals at the border, unless the president acts to invoke the Insurrection Act.
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According to the AP, the Insurrection Act allows presidents to call on reserve or active duty military units to respond to unrest in the states, an authority that is not reviewable by the courts.
What's next:
The AP spoke to officials on condition of anonymity because the announcement has not yet been made.
The forces are expected to be used to support border patrol agents, with logistics, transportation and construction of barriers. They have done similar duties in the past, when both Trump and former President Joe Biden sent active duty troops to the border.
According to the AP, typically in deployments to the southern border in support of the Department of Homeland Security, Pentagon officials request specifics from DHS on what needs to be done, and military leaders decide what troops should go and how many.