The move comes as the Trump administration ramps up immigration enforcement efforts.
The U.S. National Guard is deploying more troops to the U.S.–Mexico border as the Trump administration ramps up border and immigration enforcement efforts.
In a statement on Wednesday, the National Guard Bureau confirmed it will send more assets to assist the military’s U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) alongside the Department of Homeland Security and Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) in what the statement said is “an emergency on [the] Southern Border.”
Gen. Steven S. Nordhaus, head of the National Guard Bureau, said in a statement that about 1,600 National Guard members are deployed along the border but that the bureau will be “developing additional support options to meet USNORTHCOM, USTRANSCOM, and Department of Homeland Security force requirements.”
The statement said that more than 4,100 Texas National Guard troops will also be on duty at the southern border, which was initiated years ago by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as part of his “Operation Lone Star” efforts.
Earlier this week, acting Defense Secretary Robert Salesses said he ordered 1,500 active-duty U.S. military troops to deploy to the border, consisting of 1,000 Army soldiers and 500 Marines, according to a Pentagon statement. That increases the total