Ft Bragg troops arrive at Mexican border. Video shows them inspecting crossing points

BY CHARLES DUNCAN
cduncan@mcclatchy.com
November 07, 2018 01:49 PM
Updated 1 hour 17 minutes ago

Soldiers from Fort Bragg are joining thousands of troops at the U.S.-Mexico border. Video from the U.S. Army shows Black Hawk helicopters from the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade arriving recently in Texas from North Carolina.

The Department of Defense plans to send more than 7,000 active-duty soldiers to the southern border, according to CNN.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford said this week that the troops will not be “involved in the actual mission of denying people entry to the United States,” according to CNN.

Dunford was speaking at Duke University when he explained that the active-duty members of the military will be there to support U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents, CNN reported.

“There is no plan for soldiers to come in contact with immigrants or to reinforce Department of Homeland Security as they’re conducting their mission,” Dunford said, according to CNN.

Soldiers at the Mexican border with Texas were not armed earlier this week and were laying razor wire and working on fences, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Officials with Fort Bragg earlier confirmed to the News & Observer that soldiers from the base would deploy to the border. President Donald Trump ordered thousands of active-duty military members to help “harden the southern border,” according to the Department of Defense.

The videos released this week by the DoD show Black Hawk helicopters arriving in McAllen, Texas, along the border with Mexico.

The videos show a Black Hawk helicopter crew with the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade touring border crossings and along the Rio Grande River with the Department of Homeland Security.

A caravan of mostly Honduran migrants making its way through Mexico became a central election issue for the president ahead of the midterms.

Wednesday after the election Trump called the caravan an “invasion,” according to PBS NewsHour.

The caravan is filtering into Mexico City now, where they plan to rest and regroup, according to the Associated Press.

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