Thousands more troops heading to US border as Trump seeks to crack down on migration: Reports

WASHINGTON

Thousands of active-duty US troops are preparing to deploy to the southern border after President Donald Trump ordered a troop ramp-up as part of his initiative to crack down on illegal immigration, according to multiple reports published Wednesday.

The action comes after Trump signed a raft of new executive orders beginning Monday that seek to crack down on migration, including declaring a national emergency at the US-Mexican border. US troops are typically barred from carrying out domestic law enforcement under an 1878 law known as the Posse Comitatus Act, but Trump said in the order that he would decide within 90 days whether or not he would use the Insurrection Act to override the law.

CNN reported that the number of troops being deployed is in the thousands, citing anonymous officials familiar with the matter. It said 2,200 are already at the border carrying out mostly logistical and bureaucratic tasks. The additional troops would largely do the same, and would be used to supplement Joint Task Force-North, the official said.

The force is the US Northern Command’s border mission. It is based out of the border city of El Paso in Texas.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The troops will reportedly assist Border Patrol's "operational readiness," bolster command-and-control centers and provide intelligence specialists to assess threats and migrant flows, the anonymous sources told CNN. They will also assist with ongoing air operations.

Additional troops are expected to be deployed, and the initial tranche will help lay the groundwork for their arrival. Whether or not any of the troops will be armed remains unclear, but they will not be authorized to carry out law enforcement operations for now, said CNN.