Trump Admin Orders Deployment of Thousands Of Additional Troops To The Border

An additional 5,050 troops are set to be deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a Stryker brigade combat team (SBCT) and a general support aviation battalion to "bolster military support" in securing the southwest area.

As part of President Donald Trump's plans to combat unlawful immigration and drug-smuggling, officials in both the U.S. and Mexico have relied on the military, with both countries sending troops there. In early February Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that her administration would send 10,000 troops to the border to "prevent drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States, particularly fentanyl," as part of the agreement that initially put tariffs announced by Trump on hold for 30 days. The tariffs, however, went into effect on Tuesday.

According to Border Report, the Pentagon is beefing up military presence along the U.S.-Mexico border with hundreds of additional troops. According to a statement from Pentagon Press Secretary Sean Parnell, the reinforcements will arrive to the border in the coming weeks, although he did not say where the troops would be sent specifically.

The U.S. had already ordered thousands of Army, Navy and other personnel to be deployed to the border. In January, Trump ordered 1,600 Marines to be relocated, joining 2,500 service members already there prior to him taking office.

As Border Report details, the addition of more than 5,000 troops would bolster the total number of American troops along the border to more than the original 10,000 that Hegseth expected to serve as a "force multiplier" during a recent trip to the border.

According to NBC News, military presence along the U.S.-Mexico border is already significant. A total of 9,200 troops are currently deployed at the southern border, including 4,200 deployed under federal orders and about 5,000 National Guard troops under the directions of governors.

The announcement comes as the number of migrant crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border was among the lowest in decades during President Donald Trump's first full month in office, according to the White House.

Concretely, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents made an estimated 8,450 apprehensions in February, making it the first time Border Patrol averaged roughly 8,000 apprehensions since 1968 according to historical statistics.