Active duty U.S. troops begin arriving in Texas and San Diego to support border security

WASHINGTON (AP) — Active duty military troops will begin arriving in El Paso, Texas and San Diego Thursday evening, in what defense officials said is the first batch of new forces being deployed to secure the border south.

The Pentagon announced Wednesday that about 1,500 troops are being sent to the border this week, as the department races to put President Donald Trump in motion executive order demand immediate repression on immigration.

U.S. officials said they expect additional troops to be ordered to deploy in the coming days as defense chiefs and Homeland Security chiefs suppress demands for more support.

Officials said it is not yet clear how many additional service members would be tapped in the near future, but they would include active duty, National Guard and reserves, and would come from the Army, Air Force and Marine Corps. Other defense and military officials this week estimated the additional numbers deployed could be in the thousands.

The troops announced Wednesday include about 1,000 Army troops from various units and 500 Marines from Camp Pendleton in California.

Officials said Thursday they expect their largest number to be in El Paso – including Fort Bliss – or San Diego by Friday, where they will get their mission assignments and prepare to spread out along the border. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of the troop movements.

There were already about 2,500 guard and reserve forces deployed to the border, and the new 1,500 would add to that total. But officials noted that given the length of the nearly 2,000-mile border with Mexico, it will require additional forces to help put up large rolls of concertina cable barriers and provide necessary transportation , intelligence and other support to the Border Patrol.

As of Thursday, there were still no requests to use military bases to house migrants or for troops to be used for law enforcement duties.