A couple of thousand US navy service members can be despatched to the border with Mexico within the coming days, the Pentagon confirmed, as one other migrant ‘caravan’ made its method north from Honduras.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requested further surveillance functionality and concertina wire, Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan advised reporters on the Pentagon on Tuesday.
“We’ve responded with, you know, here’s how many people it would take,” Shanahan mentioned. However, he wouldn’t disclose the precise quantity. When requested what number of troops can be headed to the border, he mentioned “Several thousand, and I’ll kind of leave it at that.”
A Pentagon spokesman later adopted that up, explaining that the Department of Defense is “currently sourcing the units involved and there will be an increase of a few thousand troops,” and that “we will provide more clarity on the numbers when we have it.”
All the troops are in a “support role” to civilian authorities and never engaged in legislation enforcement, Shanahan harassed.
President Donald Trump initially ordered virtually 6,000 troops to the southern border in late October, as two migrant caravans trekked by means of Mexico. His critics accused him of a publicity stunt forward of the November midterms.
Some 3,600 of these troops have since returned to their bases, however 2,300 troopers nonetheless stay on the border. Earlier this month, Shanahan licensed extending their mission by means of the tip of September 2019. Another 2,200 National Guard troops are deployed on the border as properly.
That determination got here inside days of one other “caravan” forming in Honduras and setting out for Mexico, with the US as their closing vacation spot. According to a number of studies, its numbers have swelled from the unique 2,000 members to one thing like 12,000.