{"id":59723,"date":"2021-07-07T14:05:43","date_gmt":"2021-07-07T14:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/07\/07\/southern-border-mission-for-us-troops-extends-another-year\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:01:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:01:37","slug":"southern-border-mission-for-us-troops-extends-another-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2021\/07\/07\/southern-border-mission-for-us-troops-extends-another-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Southern border mission for US troops extends another year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin authorized the deployment of as many as 3,000 troops to the U.S. border with Mexico for fiscal year 2022, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six months after President Joe Biden rescinded a national emergency<\/a> order from 2018, thousands of National Guardsmen are still at the southern border, providing surveillance assistance to Customs and Border Protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authorization for 2022 extends the military\u2019s mission at the border into its fourth year. At its peak, the Pentagon had authorized up to 5,500 troops on the border, which dropped to 4,000<\/a> last summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2018, the DoD has obligated at least $841 million for border security operations, according to a Government Accountability Office report <\/a>early this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authorization for 2022 comes as many states are sending law enforcement and National Guard troops to Texas as part of Operation Lone Star, an effort to stem the smuggling of people and drugs into the state, according to a statement from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.<\/p>\n\n\n\t