A shift in troop deployments to the southern border

If you were expecting the President to pull back on his decision to deploy the military to the southern border, prepare to be disappointed. Not only are the troops not going to be rotating back to their normal duty stations (in most cases), but Trump is doubling down and sending nearly 4,000 more personnel to the Mexican border. ABC News reports that many of them will be deploying Concertina wire in areas awaiting wall/barrier construction and providing surveillance support to the Border Patrol.

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Approximately 3,750 additional active duty U.S. troops are heading to the southern border in support of Customs and Border Protection, according to a statement released by the Department of Defense on Sunday.

“That support includes a mobile surveillance capability through the end of September 2019, as well as the emplacement of approximately 150 miles of concertina wire between ports of entry,” the statement said.

The new troops are expected to deploy in mid-February, a U.S. official told ABC News.

Since there are currently 2,350 troops working at the border, this “surge” will more than double the number of men and women in uniform working down there. Since last fall they’ve put up nearly ninety miles of “wire obstacles” and portable barriers, along with providing administrative and surveillance support to the Border Patrol. Those numbers will only be going up from now through September at a minimum.

This is probably pretty good timing, particularly when you consider the fact that we’re currently tracking no less than three new migrant caravans heading north, one of them with an estimated 12,000 people in it. Mexico has been quite cooperative lately in terms of keeping migrants on their side of the border, but there’s going to come a point when they can’t absorb any more.

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Of course, if we’re pulling out of Afghanistan and turning it over the Taliban anyway, the military will need something to keep them busy. Where would you rather have them… fighting over there or hanging out in Texas and southern California?

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Ed Morrissey 10:00 PM | November 22, 2024
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