Acting Secretary of Defense Robert SalessesRobert Salesses issued a statement yesterday announcing that the Defense Department, in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order on border security, would be sending 1,500 troops to the southern border in Texas and California, as well as helicopters with associated crews, and intelligence analysts to support increased detection and monitoring efforts. U.S. Northern Command will lead the operational effort, but will be supported by U.S. Transportation Command, the National Guard Bureau, and the military services working with the Department of Homeland Security.
Secondly, “the Department will provide military airlift to support DHS deportation flights of more than 5,000 illegal aliens from the San Diego, California, and El Paso, Texas sectors detained by Customs and Border Protection.” As for where these flights will go, “The State Department has the decision making and has the relationships that they’re working with those countries that will ultimately be the source … to where these flights are going,” an unnamed senior defense official told reporters.
And third, “the Department will begin assisting in the construction of temporary and permanent physical barriers to add additional security to curtail illegal border crossings and illicit trafficking.”
