Thread: 5,000 troops deploying to US-Mexico border in response to migrant caravan

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5,000 troops deploying to US-Mexico border in response to migrant caravan

Roughly 5,000 U.S. troops will be deploying to the southern border in response to the migrant caravan pushing north through Mexico, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News. Some of the troops will be deploying as early as Tuesday. The reinforcements headed to the U.S.-Mexico border are support troops, not combat troops. They will include engineers, aviation and medical personnel.
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Some 5,200 US troops deploying to southern border in response to migrant caravan

By Lucas Tomlinson | Fox News

Roughly 5,200 U.S. troops will be deploying to the southern border in response to the migrant caravan pushing north through Mexico, U.S. officials told Fox News on Monday.

“We'll reinforce along priority points of entry so as to enhance [Border Patrol]’s ability to harden and secure the border,” Air Force Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy, head of U.S. Northern Command said at a news conference in Washington, D.C., adding that the deployment would be completed by the "end of this week."

The reinforcements headed to the U.S.-Mexico border are support troops – not combat troops – and will include three engineering battalions with "heavy equipment", as well as aviation and medical personnel. Most of the troops are on active duty and will carry weapons, but will not be part of any law enforcement effort in deference to the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the federal government from using the armed forces in a domestic police role.

The troop deployment, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, had been expected after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis approved the request last week. But the number of troops is far higher than initial estimates.

There are three planned staging areas: in South Texas, Arizona and California, for what's now been dubbed Operation Faithful Patriot. The mission's U.S. ground commander is Army Lt. Gen. Jeffrey S. Buchanan, who was sent to Puerto Rico last year to lead Hurricane Maria relief efforts.
The troops are coming from military posts including Fort Bragg, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Fort Stewart, Fort Campbell, Fort Riley and Fort Knox. The deployment includes three medium-lift helicopter companies with night vision equipment. O'Shaughnessy added that 22 miles of barbed wire already had been sent to the southern border and Air Force C-130s and other cargo planes would be used to deliver additional Border Patrol personnel.

President Trump, meanwhile, has called for the caravan to turn back and warned its members that the military “is waiting for you!”

He tweeted Monday: “Many Gang Members and some very bad people are mixed into the Caravan heading to our Southern Border. Please go back, you will not be admitted into the United States unless you go through the legal process. This is an invasion of our Country and our Military is waiting for you!”

Donald J. Trump
✔@realDonaldTrump

Many Gang Members and some very bad people are mixed into the Caravan heading to our Southern Border. Please go back, you will not be admitted into the United States unless you go through the legal process. This is an invasion of our Country and our Military is waiting for you!
9:41 AM - Oct 29, 2018

There already are about 2,000 National Guard troops assisting at the border under a previous Pentagon arrangement. With thousands of additional troops headed south, there will be roughly the same number of American forces positioned along the southern border as there are deployed to Iraq and Syria combined.

While troops are being deployed, White House officials are continuing to discuss possible executive or regulatory action to prevent people in the caravan from coming across the border.

One idea under consideration is a measure that would only allow asylum claims to be made at a port of entry or border crossing. Under the idea, anyone who tried to make an asylum claim by crossing the border illegally would be deemed inadmissible – and their claim would be denied.
The caravan of Central American migrants continues its journey north from southern Mexico, but is still roughly 1,000 miles away from the southern border with the U.S.

The caravan is now estimated at 4,000 people.

Fox News’ John Roberts and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Lucas Tomlinson is the Pentagon and State Department producer for Fox News Channel. You can follow him on Twitter:

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/500...igrant-caravan

Published 5 mins ago

5,000 troops deploying to US-Mexico border in response to migrant caravan

By Lucas Tomlinson | Fox News

Roughly 5,000 U.S. troops will be deploying to the southern border in response to the migrant caravan pushing north through Mexico, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News.

Some of the troops will be deploying as early as Tuesday. The reinforcements headed to the U.S.-Mexico border are support troops, not combat troops. They will include engineers, aviation and medical personnel.

This is a developing story ...

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/500...igrant-caravan

Troops to arrive on U.S.-Mexico border by Oct. 31

Trump to Expand Military Border Deployment from 800 to 5,000

Where on the border are they sending them.

Because wherever they send them the caravan will go elsewhere.

ICE speeds up the release in 'catch and release' of families

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Where on the border are they sending them.

Because wherever they send them the caravan will go elsewhere.

and while they are dealing with the caravan 1500 to 1700 a day will be crossing the border in other places, just as they already are!

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

U.S. military to send 5,000 troops to southern border

Published: Oct 29, 2018 5:28 p.m. ET

Troops likely to be deployed at ports of entry as Trump ramps up rhetoric


Getty Images

Texas National Guard soldiers monitor the U.S.-Mexico border in 2014 in Havana, Texas.By
NANCYA. YOUSSEF

ALICIAA. CALDWELL

The U.S. military plans to deploy 5,000 troops to the southwest U.S. border in anticipation of a caravan of would-be asylum seekers and migrants currently moving northward in Mexico, U.S. officials said Monday.

The new figure is a major increase from initial estimates of 800 troops and would represent a military force equal to about one-third the number of customs officials currently working at the border. The military sent about 2,000 National Guard troops to the area earlier this year.

“This is an invasion of our Country and our Military is waiting for you!” President Trump wrote on Twitter on Monday morning, without directly mentioning troop numbers. The president on Monday repeated his previous assertion that gang members and criminals were hiding among the migrants. The White House has provided no evidence that such people are in the caravan. Many of the people in the caravan have said they are fleeing violence, poverty and political instability.

The U.S. and federal law-enforcement officials said troops are likely to be deployed to ports of entry, at least in initial phases of the U.S. military mission, which the Pentagon has named Operation Faithful Patriot. U.S. troops later expect to support border officials by doing things like building tents, providing medical support and helping staff command and control centers.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us...der-2018-10-29

Where on the border are they sending the troops?

(Because the caravan can change plans and just go elsewhere.)

=====================================
Senior officials from the Pentagon and the Customs and Border Protection told reporters on Monday that 800 service members are already headed to Texas, with the remaining 4,400 arriving over the coming days.

The US is sending 5,000 troops to the border. Here’s what they can and can’t do.


They can fly aircraft and lend support, but they can’t detain anybody.

By Alex Ward@AlexWardVoxalex.ward@vox.com Updated Oct 29, 2018, 6:19pm EDT

https://www.vox.com/2018/10/29/18026...-trump-caravan

I sure hope DOD doesn't tell anyone "where" the troops are going to be.