Pentagon Gives Green Light to Deployment of 2,100 More Troops to US Southern Border

Previously, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requested that the Defence Department provide 1,000 additional troops to reinforce the border in a bid to stop the flow of illegal migrants crossing it.

Pentagon spokesman Chris Mitchell said in an interview with Reuters that the Defence Department has approved the DHS request to provide 1,000 troops from the Texas National Guard and an additional 1,100 active duty soldiers for deployment at the US southern border with Mexico. The new forces will assist the 4,500 troops previously deployed to the border with logistics and aerial surveillance.

The deployment of armed forces to the US-Mexico border is part of the Trump administration's plan to curb illegal immigration coming across it in fulfilment of the president’s election promise.

Honduran migrants help each other to cross over the U.S. border wall to San Diego, California, from Tijuana, Mexico, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018

© AP Photo / Moises Castillo

Trump has also got Mexico to join his efforts by striking an agreement with its government in June. Under the deal, Washington promised to abandon plans to impose tariffs on Mexican goods in exchange for the country deploying its own national guard to the border with the US in order to stop migrants from crossing it illegally. At the end of June, Mexico sent around 15,000 troops to the border in fulfilment of the agreement.

Trump has faced criticism over his efforts to stem the flow of migrants, as reports surfaced saying that they have allegedly led to the separation of migrant children from their families and that these minors are being kept in poor conditions. In a bid to solve the problem, the US Congress passed a $4.6 billion humanitarian aid package under a barrage criticism from Trump, who blamed Democrats and the politics of Barack Obama for the existing situation.