{"id":30056,"date":"2018-10-29T21:37:24","date_gmt":"2018-10-29T21:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/10\/29\/trump-orders-5200-active-duty-troops-to-us-mexico-border\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:30:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:30:24","slug":"trump-orders-5200-active-duty-troops-to-us-mexico-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2018\/10\/29\/trump-orders-5200-active-duty-troops-to-us-mexico-border\/","title":{"rendered":"President Trump orders 5,200 active duty troops to US-Mexico border"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Department of Defense is sending troops south to counter two migrant caravans that are moving on foot through Mexico toward the U.S. border.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

More than 5,000 U.S. active-duty forces <\/a>will be used to \u201charden\u201d points of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border to confront what officials said is now two caravans of more than 6,000 migrants from Central America making their way toward the border, U.S. Northern Command Commander Air Force Gen. Terrence O\u2019Shaughnessy said Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re bringing in military police units. We\u2019re bringing in strategic airlift,\u201d O\u2019Shaughnessy said. \u201cAs we sit right now, we have three C-130s and a C-17 that is ready to deploy with [Customs and Border Protection] personnel wherever they need to be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 5,200 active duty troops would join about 2,100 National Guard forces sent by Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona earlier this year to bolster the border. Most of the National Guard forces are unarmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, O\u2019Shaughnessy said that the active-duty troops would be armed if their specialty, such as military police, required it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis approved the use of the active-duty forces on Friday,<\/a> with the first troops directed to be in place by Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have 800 soldiers on their way to Texas right now,\u201d O\u2019Shaughnessy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those first troops are coming from Fort Knox and Fort Campbell, both in Kentucky, and will eventually be augmented with aviation support from three medium-lift helicopter companies and three combat engineer battalions. In all, the forces headed to the border total about 5,200 and would be deploying by the end of the week, O\u2019Shaughnessy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Richard Wolfe, a unit movement coordinator, provides directions as Pfc. Emmanuel Cook, of the 89th Military Police Brigade, loads a Light Medium Tactical Vehicle on a C-17 aircraft Oct. 29, 2018. The soldiers are deploying to the southwest border region to support and enable Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies. (Staff Sgt. Nathan Akridge\/Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The military has also already begun flowing in construction materials and barriers, O\u2019Shaughnessy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The numbers of active-duty forces deploying is far larger than the 800 or so originally reported last week. For comparison, the military has said it keeps about 5,200 troops in Iraq to keep the Islamic State at bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original caravan, which is now located in southern Mexico, had at one point swelled to 7,000 migrants. It is now down to about 3,500, said Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan. There is a second caravan estimated to be about 3,000 in size that has now formed at the Guatemala-Mexico border.<\/p>\n\n\n\t