An additional 2,100 troops, including 1,100 active-duty service members and 1,000 Texas National Guard soldiers, will be deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border “in the next several weeks,” the Pentagon announced.
Acting Defense Secretary Richard Spencer, who took responsibility of the Defense Department on Tuesday, authorized the additional personnel Wednesday. Spencer has been the Navy secretary since August 2017.
Already at the border are about 2,500 active-duty and 2,000 National Guard troops.
The new active-duty personnel will provide “aerial surveillance, operational, logistical, and administrative support” to Customs and Border Patrol, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Chris Mitchell said in a statement obtained by media, including Politico and Military Times.
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