Small Wars Journal

President Trump Sending 5,200 Troops to the U.S.-Mexico Border

Mon, 10/29/2018 - 5:20pm

President Trump Sending 5,200 Troops to the U.S.-Mexico Border by Julie Hirschfeld Davis – New York Times

The Defense Department will deploy at least 5,200 active-duty troops to the southern border by the end of this week to help harden security there, officials announced on Monday, part of an election-season response by President Trump to hold off a group of Central American migrants moving north through Mexico.

An initial group of 800 soldiers already is heading to Texas from Fort Campbell and Fort Knox, according to Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy, the commander of the United States Northern Command.

The deployment is the first piece of a multistage approach that Mr. Trump has been considering for several weeks, and which also is expected to include executive action to bar entry to Central Americans, including for those seeking asylum.

“We will not allow a large group to enter the United States in an unsafe and unlawful manner,” said Kevin K. McAleenan, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection…

Read on.