WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Defense Department has authorized the deployment of 1,115 more active duty troops to the U.S. southern border, expanding the military’s role in immigration control under President Donald Trump’s second administration.
These troops will focus on engineering, logistics, and construction support—handling tasks such as medical care and road clearing, according to officials overseeing the mission.
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Currently, nearly 8,000 active duty service members are stationed along the border, a significant increase of about 6,500 troops since the administration began. With this latest approval, the force will near the 10,000-troop cap set earlier this year by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Since taking office, Hegseth has expanded the Pentagon’s involvement in border operations, deploying surveillance aircraft, warships, helicopters, and even an armored Stryker brigade to support immigration enforcement.
In a controversial move, the administration has also redesignated two narrow strips of land along the border as military bases. This allows active duty troops to detain migrants for trespassing on Defense Department property—a legal workaround to laws barring the military from domestic law enforcement duties unless the Insurrection Act is invoked.
However, a federal judge recently dismissed trespassing charges against 100 migrants in New Mexico, stating that they were not adequately warned they had entered military territory.
Hegseth has promised the U.S. will reach “100% operational control” of the border, though he has yet to define what that entails. Meanwhile, unlawful crossings have sharply declined in recent months.
Despite the drop, Democratic lawmakers continue to criticize the deployment, calling it a misuse of military resources and a threat to the armed forces’ readiness for combat.
