Hundreds more troops heading to U.S.-Mexico border

The Washington Times ^ | February 22, 2019 | Carlo Munoz

[jazusamo]

The Pentagon is planning to deploy hundreds more American military personnel to the southern border, in the wake of President Trump’s announcement of a national emergency along the country’s border with Mexico.

Currently 5,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Texas, Arizona and California, backing immigration enforcement operations led by the Department of Homeland Security. With Mr. Trump’s declaration of a national emergency, that number is expected to surge to 6,000 by March 1, a senior Defense Department official said Friday.

Those troops will provide air support to Customs and Border Patrol officers and Homeland Security agents carrying out border security operations. In addition, those forces have been tasked with securing the hundreds of miles of territory along the border, in between the major points of entry into the U.S.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly said those areas have become a highway for illegal immigrants and illicit narcotics coming into the U.S., despite reports from Homeland Security officials that most of the illegal smuggling comes through known entry points.

To secure those areas, U.S. troops are stringing an additional 140 miles of border area with concertina wire, along with other areas that have already been fortified during previous troop deployments to the border. That work, which the Pentagon official says is 30 percent complete, will be coupled with a new “ground-based detection and monitoring mission” to be conducted by U.S. military units.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

So glad to see you back again! :) Be safe!

[PIF]

The A-10s might be overkill,

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Just the guns mounted in the gun towers -

Overkill? No such thing.

Also AC-130 Ghostships patrolling at night would be just the ticket for those clandestine night smuggling ops ...

Then there are the MA1A2s from Ft Knox on standby at various points along the border in case things get messy ....

Overkill? Yes!

[girlangler]

I am home and tired, but yes Bert, I remember meeting you face to face at a small protest in TN, when an Al Gore campaign aide came out and made gestures at our small, but effective, protest.