Pentagon Announces ‘Surge,’ Will Send 6,000 Troops to Border

Troops are expected to reach Mexican border within a week

In what is being described as a major surge, the Trump Administration is planning to add on to 800 troops sent to the border last week with another 5,200 troops, who are all expected to reach the Mexican border within the week.

As before, these troops are expected to join a force of 2,000 National Guard members already providing nebulous “support” for border enforcement, with the expectation of a substantial migrant caravan arriving at some point in the near future.

President Trump has termed the caravan of Central Americans a “national emergency.” Today, he further described them as an “invasion of our Country” and “very bad people.” The new deployment will include even more helicopters and planes to get forces to remote areas.

Exactly what they will be doing isn’t entirely clear. Homeland Security Secretary Kristjen Nielsen says that there has been no decision “yet” to have the troops just shoot any immigrants who try to cross the border. She has, however, said the US has every right to do so.

The Pentagon is being particularly vague about what they’re doing, insisting it will be legal under the Posse Comitatus Act, but mostly referring questions to previous Twitter statements by the president.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.