Pentagon: U.S. Troops Along Southern Border to Cost Over $70 Million

The Pentagon projected the deployment of troops along the southern border ahead of the arrival of the Central American migrant caravan will cost more than $70 million. According to Department of Defense spokesman Col. Rob Manning, the “total cost of the operation has yet to be determined,” but the present “force laydown” will cost “approximately $72 million.” Manning said the number included the costs to “deploy, operate, sustain, and redeploy forces” until the mission’s end date on Dec. 15. He also said the estimate includes only DoD forces and support “requested and approved” as of Nov. 19, and could change depending on “total size, duration, and scope of the DoD support” to the Department of Homeland Security. Pentagon officials announced earlier that troops deployed along the U.S.-Mexico border would begin a drawdown that would have them home by Christmas, just as hundreds of migrants arrived in Tijuana, Mexico.