Troops’ stay at border may be extended

5,800 in California, Arizona, Texas due to depart on Dec. 15.

Pentagon officials are considering whether to keep U.S. troops along the southwest border an additional 45 days, potentially extending a controversial mission to assist the Border Patrol into next year, U.S. officials said.

The 5,800 troops now deployed in California, Arizona and Texas are scheduled to depart Dec. 15. But the Department of Homeland Security, parent agency of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, has opened discussions with the Pentagon about delaying their departure until late January, according to an official who was not authorized to speak on the record.

If approved, the extension would represent another expansion of the military border operation, the scope of which has steadily grown since President Donald Trump rushed troops to border posts in Arizona, Texas and California shortly before the Nov. 6 midterm election.

An extension would keep troops away from home through the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, which would intensify criticism of the operation from Democrats, who have called the operation wasteful and unnecessary.

Only last week, the White House authorized troops along the border to detain, search, and if necessary use deadly force to protect other U.S. government personnel, a major change in the military role but one that Pentagon officials insisted would only be employed in dire emergencies.

Thousands of migrants are in the Mexican cities of Tijuana and Mexicali. Some clashed earlier this week at the San Ysidro border crossing with Border Patrol agents, who fired tear gas to prevent them from seeking to rush the border en masse. Unarmed U.S. troops were seen moving razor wire to block the attempted crossing.

If the mission is extended, one official said, the Pentagon could rotate new troops to the border and send some personnel who have been living in makeshift camps since October back to their home bases.

The Defense Department has sought to keep tight limits on the border operation. At the same time, other administration officials who advocate aggressive efforts to block immigration have sought to expand the military role to buttress the president’s incendiary charges that caravans of migrants moving north through Mexico pose an imminent threat to U.S. security.

The Homeland Security department has not made a formal request for an extension, Pentagon officials said.

Defense Secretary James N. Mattis told reporters Wednesday the two departments were in discussions about whether an extension was required.

“We’ll react to the Department of Homeland Security if they ask for it,” he said. “Right now we’re working with them on the staffs.”