Pentagon sending 5,200 troops to secure border

WASHINGTON—A week out from the midterm elections, the Pentagon said Monday it is sending 5,200 troops, some armed, to the Southwest border in an extraordinary military operation to help stop illegal crossings by a caravan of migrants moving slowly north in Mexico, still hundreds of miles from the U.S. border.

President Donald Trump himself, eager to focus voters on immigration in the lead-up to the elections, escalated his threats against the caravan, tweeting: “This is an invasion of our Country and our Military is waiting for you!”

His warning came as the Pentagon began executing “Operation Faithful Patriot,” described by the commander of U.S. Northern Command as an effort to help Customs and Border Protection stiffen defenses at and near legal entry points. Advanced helicopters will enable border protection agents to swoop down on migrants, he said.

“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’Shaughnessy 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 caravan of 3,500 has shrunk from a peak of about 7,200 migrants a week ago, but a second caravan of about 600 had formed and was clashing with federal police on a bridge from Guatemala to Mexico.

The military operation drew quick criticism.

“Sending active military forces to our southern border is not only a huge waste of taxpayer money, but an unnecessary course of action that will further terrorize and militarize our border communities,” said Shaw Drake of the American Civil Liberties Union’s border rights center at El Paso, Texas.

Military personnel are legally prohibited from engaging in immigration enforcement. The troops will include military police, combat engineers and others helping on the southern border.

Customs and Border Protection is pushing a surge in personnel in response to the caravan of Central American immigrants. The military troops are intended to assist the border patrol, not engage directly with migrants.

The White House is also weighing additional border security measures, including blocking those traveling in the caravan from seeking legal asylum and keeping them from entering the U.S.