The Pentagon is deploying approximately 3,000 additional active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border as part of President Donald Trump’s effort to curb illegal immigration and fulfill a key campaign promise, U.S. officials said Saturday. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed the deployment of elements from a Stryker brigade combat team and a general support aviation battalion, according to a Pentagon announcement. These forces are expected to arrive along the nearly 2,000-mile border in the coming weeks.
While the Defense Department’s statement did not specify the exact number of troops, officials speaking anonymously estimated the deployment at around 3,000. The additional forces will join approximately 9,200 U.S. troops already stationed at the southern border, which includes 4,200 under federal orders and about 5,000 National Guard troops under state control.
The Pentagon stated that the new troops would “reinforce and expand current border security operations to secure the border and uphold U.S. territorial integrity.”
Trump has pushed for an increased military presence at the border to strengthen enforcement efforts and expedite the deportation of detained migrants.
The military has been involved in border operations since the 1990s, assisting with migration control, drug trafficking prevention, and transnational crime efforts.
