{"id":16326,"date":"2018-10-29T16:20:39","date_gmt":"2018-10-29T16:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/10\/29\/white-house-plan-to-send-5000-troops-to-the-mexican-border-catches-pentagon-off-guard\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T06:11:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T06:11:39","slug":"white-house-plan-to-send-5000-troops-to-the-mexican-border-catches-pentagon-off-guard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2018\/10\/29\/white-house-plan-to-send-5000-troops-to-the-mexican-border-catches-pentagon-off-guard\/","title":{"rendered":"Forces headed to border to confront migrant caravan could total \u2018in the thousands\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

No decision has been made on the numbers of active duty troops that will be sent to the U.S.-Mexico border, but the number could eventually total in the thousands, a defense official told Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis approved <\/a>sending active duty forces to the U.S.-Mexico border, and initial reports said the department was planning for a size of about 800 active-duty troops to support border agents handling an approaching caravan of thousands of Central American migrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But those figures may only reflect an initial response by the Defense Department, which has ordered that the first active-duty forces arrive by Oct. 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday morning, the Wall Street Journal reported<\/a> that the actual figure under consideration by the Trump administration was closer to 5,000. That force would be comprised primarily of military police and engineers, according to the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\t