REPORT: Pentagon to deploy troops to the border, will use military planes for deportation flights

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From the Washington Examiner: The U.S. military has deployed approximately 1,500 troops to the southern border to aid the Department of Homeland Security’s border security measures.

President Donald Trump signed several executive orders in his first hours back in the White House designed to curb illegal immigration, deport undocumented migrants from the United States back to their country of origin, and more aggressively target gangs and traffickers.

It’s not clear yet which units will be deployed to the southern border and when they will arrive there, though a senior military official told reporters it will consist of about 1,000 Army personnel and 500 Marines.

Acting Secretary of Defense Robert Salesses announced on Wednesday that he will deploy an additional 1,500 ground personnel, helicopters with associated crews, and intelligence analysts to support increased detection and monitoring.

Salesses is in charge at the Department of Defense until Trump’s nominee Pete Hegseth is confirmed.

The Pentagon is not only sending troops to the border, but will assist in deportations with military planes, and will assist in construction of the border wall.

Task & Purpose reported: A total of four C-17 and C-130 aircraft will be involved in the deportation flights, and other aircraft are on call in case they are needed, a senior military official said. Roughly 100 airmen will be involved with the effort, enough for several crews for each plane plus maintenance and support troops. No information was immediately available about what units they will come from.

In a press release on Wednesday, Salesses announced:

First, DoD will begin augmenting its forces at the southwest border with an additional ~1500 ground personnel, as well as helicopters with associated crews, and intelligence analysts to support increased detection and monitoring efforts. This represents a 60 percent increase in active-duty ground forces since President Trump was sworn in Monday.

Second, the Department will provide military airlift to support DHS deportation flights of more than five thousand illegal aliens from the San Diego, California, and El Paso, Texas sectors detained by Customs and Border Protection. DHS will provide inflight law enforcement, and the State Department will obtain the requisite diplomatic clearances and provide host-nation notification.

Third, the Department will begin assisting in the construction of temporary and permanent physical barriers to add additional security to curtail illegal border crossings and illicit trafficking.

This is just the beginning. In short order, the Department will develop and execute additional missions in cooperation with DHS, federal agencies, and state partners to address the full range of threats outlined by the President at our nation’s borders.

Fox News correspondent Jennifer Griffin noted that the Marines being sent to the border will be armed, and will return fire if they are shot at by the cartel.

100 US troops are already en route to the border. A senior Marine official I spoke to said:

The 500 Marines being sent from being on stand by to help with the California fires will be armed and have magazines in their weapons, unlike during past border missions. The Marines are planning for up to 2500 Marines being sent to the border if requested. The Marines, I am told, are treating this deployment as they would any other emergency contingency (evacuating an Embassy, deploying to a war zone).

“Our response will be immediate. We are going in ready to respond. If the cartels shoot at us we will not stand by,” this Marine official told me. “We will be taking whatever equipment we would send if a Marine Expeditionary Unit or MEU were deploying overseas.”

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