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Honduran migrants who are part of an American caravan linking Mapastepec to Pijijiapan in the state of Chiapas in Mexico on October 25, 2018. (Pedro Pardo / AFP)
Dan Lamothe
Reporter covering the Pentagon and the US Army
October 25 at 11:53
The Trump administration is expected to deploy additional US troops to contribute to security operations on the southern border in response to a caravan of migrants traveling north through Mexico, three US officials confirmed Thursday.
The plan provides that about 800 additional troops, including active force members, mainly from the army, join a growing border mission requested by President Trump, said one official. under the guise of anonymity because no official announcement has been made. .
New deployments, reported for the first time by CNN, would add to the approximately 2,100 National Guard soldiers already involved in border operations. About 1,600 of these service members are in "border areas", with others in headquarters units, officials said this week.
In a tweet from Thursday morningTrump has again called for an amendment to US immigration laws. According to him, it is difficult to get people arrested at the border. He added that he was appealing to the army to deal with this national emergency. They will be arrested!
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is expected to authorize the additional deployment on Thursday, officials said.
[Migrant caravan: Why thousands of Central Americans are walking to the border]
The addition of active forces could be a cause of concern for human rights groups, as caravan migrants from Honduras are largely made up of families. , including children. US officials said Thursday morning that additional forces should not include "trigger shooters" but include engineers to build new traffic barriers, support for aviation, doctors and lawyers to provide legal representation.
Critics, however, said Trump's reaction to the caravan, estimated at thousands of people, was intended to stir public fears about security threats to bring his conservative base closer to the November 6 mid-term elections.
Trump has also said in recent days that he is considering cutting back on aid to Honduras, Guatemala and possibly Mexico for failing to stop the caravan.
However, it is not known when migrants will reach the US border. While traveling on foot, they are probably in weeks and the group remains fluid and disorganized. The Mexican authorities on Wednesday estimated their number at 3,630, less than half of the 7,200 that, according to the UN, were in the caravan earlier in the week. The Mexican government has reported processing 1,700 asylum applications.
[Divided Democrats struggle to answer Trump’s claims on migrant caravan]
Guards already at the border are under the orders of their respective state governors and remain under the control of these governors. Mattis published a memo this year that barred them from interacting directly with "migrants or other detainees," and this directive is still in effect, said Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Dave Eastburn.
The Defense Department this year examined the possibility for other federal agencies to run migrant camps on specific military bases. In a memo sent to Congress in June, it will prepare to accommodate up to 20,000 unaccompanied migrant children on bases in the coming months.
This plan would have similarities with 2014, when the Obama administration had sheltered about 7,000 unaccompanied children on three military bases. But to date, the US government has not opened camps on military bases.
Officials from the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday that they were unaware of the Pentagon's plan to add additional troops. White House officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Nick Miroff contributed to this report.
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