{"id":24671,"date":"2022-10-28T18:13:38","date_gmt":"2022-10-28T18:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/10\/28\/national-guard-deployment-at-us-mexico-border-extended\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:59:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:59:14","slug":"national-guard-deployment-at-us-mexico-border-extended","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/federal-oversight\/2022\/10\/28\/national-guard-deployment-at-us-mexico-border-extended\/","title":{"rendered":"National Guard deployment at US-Mexico border extended"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Federally activated National Guard troops are expected to remain along the U.S. southern border<\/a> through summer 2023, a Pentagon spokesman confirmed to Military Times on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved a U.S. Department of Homeland Security request <\/a>sent in September to extend the mission through the government\u2019s fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, according to the spokesman, who was not authorized to speak on the record about the decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austin\u2019s approval keeps the number of authorized troops capped at 2,500, though the spokesman said that there are currently 2,708 National Guard members deployed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe difference in those two numbers reflect overlap as units and personnel swap out during the month of October to coincide with the new [fiscal year],\u201d the spokesman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The extension sends the border mission into its fourth year, after former President Donald Trump first sent more than 5,000 troops to the border in 2018, followed by a national emergency declaration in early 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authorized troop level has drawn down in the years since the mission began sending rotations of National Guard troops to support Customs and Border Protection with surveillance, intelligence and aviation support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Joe Biden canceled Trump\u2019s emergency declaration<\/a> after taking office in early 2021, but DHS has continued to ask the Defense Department for support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the federal presence, Texas has assigned 5,000 troops on state active duty<\/a> to its border as part of Operation Lone Star<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t