Washington, D.C — Active duty military troops will start arriving in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego on Thursday evening. Defense officials say this is the first group of new troops being sent to help secure the southern border.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon said that around 1,500 troops would be sent to the border this week. This is part of the efforts to follow President Donald Trump’s order for quick action on immigration.
U.S. officials expect more troops to be sent out in the next few days as defense and homeland security leaders work on requests for additional help.
Officials stated that it is not yet known how many more service members will be called up soon. This will include active duty, National Guard, and Reserves from land, air, and sea troops. Other defense and military officials this week said that the number of extra troops sent could be in the thousands.
On Wednesday, it was reported that the troops include around 1,000 Army soldiers from different units and 500 Marines from Camp Pendleton in California.
Officials announced on Thursday that most of them are expected to be in El Paso, including Fort Bliss, or in San Diego by Friday. There, they will receive their task assignments and get ready to move along the border. The officials spoke without giving their names to share information about troop moves.
Around 2,500 Guard and Reserve troops were already at the border, and the new 1,500 would increase that number. Officials said that because the U.S.-Mexico border is almost 2,000 miles long, they will need more troops to help set up the concertina wire walls and to assist the Border Patrol with transportation, information, and other support.
As of Thursday, there have not been any calls to use military bases for housing migrants or to use troops for law enforcement.
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