Washington DC [US], January 23 (ANI): The US Department of Defense is deploying 1,500 active-duty service members along with additional air and intelligence assets to the southern border to support enforcement operations already underway. Acting Secretary of Defense Robert Salesses made the announcement on Wednesday.
“On Monday, to protect the security and safety of United States citizens, President Trump declared that a national emergency exists at the southern border of the United States. The president directed me to take all appropriate action to support the activities of the secretary of homeland security in obtaining complete operational control of the southern border of the United States,” the Pentagon said in a press release on Wednesday.
The Pentagon has established a task force to oversee the swift implementation of border-related executive orders. US Northern Command is leading the effort, supported by US Transportation Command, the National Guard Bureau, the military services, and the Department of Homeland Security.
The additional 1,500 active-duty service members authorized by Salesses will begin assisting with the placement of physical barriers and other border-related tasks within the next 24 to 48 hours, according to a senior military official. The contingent includes 1,000 soldiers and 500 Marines who had previously been on standby in Southern California for potential wildfire-related support during the Los Angeles County wildfires that broke out two weeks ago.
With 2,500 active-duty personnel already stationed in the region, the additional 1,500 troops will represent a 60 percent increase in active-duty forces since the president took office on Monday, Salesses noted in his statement.
“We anticipate that overall, on the southwest border, [active-duty personnel] will provide real-time situational awareness of persons, vehicles, vessels and aircraft; and they’ll work with [US Customs and Border Protection] on operator-level maintenance, movement and staging of [CBP] assets,” the senior military official said.
In addition to the ground personnel, the Department of Defense will provide airlift support for flights operated by the Department of Homeland Security to facilitate the deportation of over 5,000 individuals detained by CBP in the border sectors of San Diego and El Paso, Texas, Salesses added.
Notably, after being sworn in, Trump had announced that he would declare a “national emergency” at the southern border and send in the troops to stop the “disastrous invasion” of the country.
“First I will declare a national emergency at the southern border. All illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the place from which they came. We will reinstate my ‘remain in Mexico’ policy,” Trump had said after taking oath.
“I will abandon the practice of catch and release. I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country. Under the orders I signed today, we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organisations,” he added.
Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States during the 60th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. (ANI)
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