Thousands of troops being sent to border
President likens caravan of migrants to ‘invasion’ of U.S.
President Trump says caravan of Central American migrants coming to U.S. is ‘an invasion’; 5,000 soldiers may be deployed.
The United States is preparing to send thousands of additional U.S. troops to the border with Mexico, U.S. officials said Monday, as President Donald Trump likened a caravan of Central American migrants to “an invasion.”
“We’re going to secure the border,” Air Force Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy, the Northern Command leader, said at a news conference. He spoke alongside Kevin McAleenan, commissioner of Customs and Border Protection.
Eight hundred troops already are on their way to southern Texas, O’Shaugh- nessy said, and their numbers will top 5,200 by week’s end. He said troops would focus first on Texas, followed by Arizona and then California.
The additional personnel would join roughly 2,000 National Guard troops assigned to the border since April, and the combined force would be the largest deployment there in at least a decade.
Trump said in a tweet Monday that the caravan’s plans to reach the border amounted to “an invasion.”
“Many Gang Members and some very bad people are mixed into the Caravan heading to our Southern Border,” he tweeted. “Please go back, you will not be admitted into the United States unless you go through the legal process. This is an invasion of our Country and our Military is waiting for you!”
A DHS official involved in the preparations said plans have yet to be finalized, but the troop levels that were in consideration last week were not realistic.
“We’ve asked for capabilities, and DHS is looking to fill capabilities, and the [Pentagon] is in the process of determining which units to send and how many personnel it’ll take, and that has not yet been determined,” said the official, speaking on the condition of anonym- ity to discuss deliberations.
U.S. officials say the bor- der deployment under consideration would not include “trigger pullers” tasked with arresting migrants or other enforcement duties.
Rather, the troops would offer “logistical support” to the U.S. Border Patrol and other Homeland Security agencies, and would include construction brigades, aerial transport crews and medi- cal staff.
The larger deployment was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
A possible announcement by Trump on the other bor- der measures had been tentatively slated for Tuesday, administration officials had said, but he is instead trav- eling to Pittsburgh, where a gunman massacred 11 peo- ple at a synagogue Saturday. Spokeswoman Sarah Hucka- bee Sanders Monday pushed off questions about the caravan and possible border measures.
“We have a number of options on the table,” she said, adding she’d let the public know of any upcoming immigration speeches but she was unaware of any right now.
Immigrant rights groups have accused Trump of exaggerating the issue by inflating the size and security threat posed by the migrants, made up largely of families, includ- ing children.
The White House has put significant pressure on the government of Mexico to block the caravan’s advance. The group has diminished from a peak of nearly 7,000 migrants, as some footsore travelers and parents with children have dropped out or fallen behind. At least 1,000 caravan members have applied for asylum in Mexico, authorities say.