WASHINGTON (AP) - Active work subject troops volition statesman arriving successful El Paso, Texas, and San Diego connected Thursday evening, successful what defence officials said is the archetypal batch of the caller forces being deployed to unafraid the confederate border.
The Pentagon announced connected Wednesday that astir 1,500 troops were being sent to the borderline this week, arsenic the section scrambles to enactment successful question President Donald Trump’s enforcement bid demanding an contiguous crackdown connected immigration.
U.S. officials said they expect further troops to beryllium ordered to deploy successful the adjacent fewer days arsenic defence and homeland information leaders robust retired requests for much support.
The officials said it’s not yet wide however galore much work members would get tapped successful the adjacent future, but they would see progressive duty, National Guard and Reserves, and travel from land, aerial and oversea forces. Other defence and subject officials this week estimated that the further fig deployed could beryllium successful the thousands.
The troops announced Wednesday see astir 1,000 Army soldiers from a assortment of units and 500 Marines from Camp Pendleton successful California.
Officials said Thursday that they expect the bulk of them to beryllium successful El Paso - including Fort Bliss - oregon successful San Diego by Friday, wherever they volition get their ngo assignments and hole to dispersed retired on the border. The officials spoke connected information of anonymity to supply details connected unit movements.
There were already astir 2,500 Guard and Reserve forces deployed to the border, and the caller 1,500 would adhd to that total. But officials noted that fixed the magnitude of the astir 2,000-mile borderline with Mexico, it volition instrumentality further forces to assistance enactment ample rolls of concertina ligament barriers successful spot and supply needed transportation, quality and different enactment to the Border Patrol.
As of Thursday determination were inactive nary requests for the usage of subject bases to location migrants oregon for troops to beryllium utilized for instrumentality enforcement duties.