SENDING REINFORCEMENTS

2,100 More Troops Are Heading to the U.S.-Mexico Border: Pentagon

The additional personnel brings the total number of troops at the border to 6,600.

The U.S. is sending 1,100 active-duty troops and 1,000 soldiers from the Texas National Guard to facilitate Customs and Border Patrol at the U.S.-Mexico border. This will bring the total number of forces at the border to around 6,600, Politico reports. Acting Defense Secretary Richard Spencer reportedly authorized the deployment Tuesday night. The active-duty troops are intended to help with aerial surveillance and provide operational, logistical, and administrative support to CBP, while around 250 National Guard troops will facilitate civilian law enforcement authorities and 750 will help staff at migrant holding facilities. Talk of more National Guard soldiers heading to the border isn’t new, but the deployment of 1,100 active-duty troops comes in response to a “shortfall in volunteer National Guard personnel,” according to Pentagon spokesperson Major Chris Mitchell.