Secretary of Defense James Mattis is expected to sign an order as early as Thursday sending 800 or more troops to the southern border to help federal law-enforcement authorities stop a caravan of thousands of Central American migrants hoping to reach the U.S.
Details of the effort are still being worked out, such as where the extra troops will come from and the specific jobs they will be assigned, but they are expected to lend logistical support, putting fencing at places the migrants are likely to try to cross and providing vehicles, tents, and medical care to border-patrol officers.
Most in the caravan of close to 7,000 migrants, many from Honduras, are fleeing gang violence and crime in their native countries. President Trump has called the caravan a “national emergency” and an “assault on our country,” promising to send as many troops as necessary to the border to prevent illegal entry.
“I am bringing out the military for this National Emergency,” he wrote on Twitter Thursday morning.
About 2,100 National Guard troops are already at the Mexican border assisting border patrol under an order authorized by Mattis in April. Most of those troops were sent by Texas, California, New Mexico, and Arizona.