About 200 soldiers from Fort Stewart near Savannah have deployed to the U.S.-Mexican border as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
The troops, according to the military, will “support enhanced detection and monitoring efforts” and help set up and repair physical barriers. They will operate under U.S. Northern Command and Joint Task Force North, which are working with federal immigration authorities.
“Our soldiers are ready to answer our nation’s call,” said Lt. Col. Angel Tomko, a 3rd Infantry Division spokesperson. “Our units train extensively to serve our nation’s interests both stateside and abroad and we are sending our finest professionals for this mission.”
The Fort Stewart troops are part of the 549th Military Police Company, 16th Military Police Brigade, XVIII Airborne Corps and the 530th Combat Engineer Company, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.
The military announced their deployment Monday afternoon, though the soldiers left for their mission Sunday. The announcement says the length of their deployment is unknown but they “will carry out their missions until relieved.”
They are among about 1,500 active-duty personnel from the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps who are deploying to the southern border to augment the roughly 2,500 service members already there.
In announcing the initial troop deployments last week, then-Acting Defense Secretary Robert Salesses said Trump directed him “to take all appropriate action to support the activities of the secretary of homeland security in obtaining complete operational control of the southern border of the United States.”
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