By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-22 20:01:37 | Updated at 2025-01-22 23:15:50
3 hours ago
Thousands of active duty troops are heading south as the military prepares to take 'complete operational control' of the U.S. border.
Within 48 hours of Donald Trump taking office, the orders are being handed down for the military to further assist immigration officials deal with the border crisis.
Trump promised during his 2024 campaign to have the military help with securing the southern border.
And the troops deployment comes on the heels of migrants breaking down along the border after the CBP One asylum appointments were canceled and the Biden-era app was shut down.
The president issued an executive order reiterating the importance of installing troops at the border to secure America's borders for the sake of defense and national security.
There are already approximately 2,500 troops at the border assisting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as part of Joint Task Force-North, US Northern Command's border mission based out of El Paso, Texas.
Trump's order will post an additional 1,500 troops to the border by the end of January.
There is also a National Guard contingent called Operation Lonestar, headed by the Texas National Guard and directed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. There are roughly 4,500 National Guardsmen currently assigned to that mission.
There are roughly 2,200 active duty troops at the southern border assisting with immigration operations – and thousands more are now ordered to report at the border in Donald Trump's crackdown on the migrant crisis
Margelis Tinoco, a migrant from Colombia, sobbed on arriving at the U.S. Border just as Trump was inaugurated to discover the CBP One App had been shut down and her appointment with officials canceled
The troops already at the border perform mostly logistics and bureaucratic tasks such as data entry, detection, monitoring and vehicle maintenance. And those being ordered there now are likely to assist in more of the same along those lines.
Even more forces are expected to be deployed there in coming weeks and months, according to multiple reports.
It is not yet clear which additional units are being ordered south.
Trump's 'border czar' Tom Homan announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) already arrested 308 illegal migrants on Tuesday – including some charged with murder and child rape.
'ICE is doing their job,' Homan said of the swiftly enacted operations.
Trump has not ruled out using the military within America's borders to help round up illegal immigrants for his massive deportation operation.
But the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is also creating task forces to work with local and state law enforcement authorities to have them enforce federal immigration laws.
A memo dated Tuesday warns local governments that if they seek to shield illegal immigrants from detection or deportation by federal authorities they could now face criminal prosecution.
This is an obvious crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities – a moniker given to usually Democratic jurisdictions that seek to prevent or circumvent federal authorities whose job it is to detect, arrest or deport illegal immigrants.
President Trump is directing federal prosecutors to investigate state and city officials who resist his immigration enforcement efforts, a Justice Department memo instructs.
He vowed to restart immigration raids, including in sanctuary cities like San Francisco, Chicago , Detroit, New York City and many others.
Multiple reports detail the new directive and the Justice Department memo, written by Trump appointee and Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove.
It states: 'Federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing or otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands and requests.'
Trump signed 10 executive orders related to immigration policy on Monday – this includes one cracking down on sanctuary cities and another that clarifies the military's role at the border
Migrants were deported from the U.S. back to Tijuana, Mexico on Tuesday, January 21 – just 24 hours after Donald Trump took his oath office
Trump issued 10 executive orders on day one of his second term on Monday related to the southern border and the illegal immigration crisis.
He vowed during the 2024 election he would carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history.
Homan told Fox News there have been no CBP One App releases since Trump took office and claims that total apprehensions at the southern border dropped to 766 on Tuesday.
This compared to the thousands per day that were crossing under Biden's leadership is a drastic change from one day to the next.
Migrants found themselves deported or sent straight back to Mexico as they sought to gain entry into the U.S. at the border between Tijuana and California on Tuesday – Trump's first full day back in office.
Hundreds were seen on Tuesday walking back over the El Chaparral pedestrian border bridge after being deported back to Mexico.
Border czar Tom Homan said 308 migrants were already arrested by ICE on Tuesday, which was Trump's first full day back in office
Migrants walk back into Mexico after being deported from California on Tuesday, January 21
The Justice Department now warns that any officials who resist or obstruct the federal immigration enforcement could now be charged with defrauding the U.S. or even harboring illegal aliens.
If their investigations find local officials to be in violation of this directive but the prosecution opts not to bring criminal charges, they must notify the Justice Department of such a decision.
Bove's memo notes this is an additional way in which to enforce the flurry of executive orders Trump signed on illegal immigration already.
He also cited threats posed by international gangs and drug cartels, writing: 'It is the responsibility of the Justice Department to defend the Constitution and, accordingly, to lawfully executive the policies that the American people elected President Trump to implement.'
