On election eve, Trump continues to play up

By the end of Monday there will be 5,200 active duty service members serving along the border of what is officially a support mission to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), but on the eve of the mid-term election President Trump continues to play the deployment as a campaign issue.

"I noticed all that beautiful barbed wire going up today," Trump said at a Montana campaign rally on Sunday. "Barbed wire used properly can be a beautiful sight."

Alfredo Estrella / AFP / Getty Images

The president was referring to a concertina in Texas on the border of the weekend. The move was in line with the support mission to Customs and Border Protection being provided by U.S. Northern Command.

But on Monday Trump made it sound as if the active-duty troops assigned to Operation Faithful Patriot would play a more visible role.

"Barbed wire looks like it's going to be very effective, too, with soldiers standing in front of it," Trump told a campaign rally in Cleveland.

But Operation Faithful Patriot is intended to be a mission where the active agents are only able to provide support for CBP since they are prohibited by federal law.

Gen. Joseph Dunford, Duke University on Monday evening.

"There is no plan for U.S. military forces to be involved in the United States," said Dunford. "There are no plans for the soldiers to come into contact with immigrants or to reinforce the Department of Homeland Security.

CBP staff being sent to the border, Helicopter units are also being deployed to transport CBP personnel to hard to reach border areas, officials said.

A Pentagon spokesman said Monday that CBP "plug gaps" and ports of entry along the border.

"They tell us what points are vulnerable," said Col. Rob Manning.

Spc. Hosannah Vickery

President Trump last week also backtracked on comments that raised questions about when military forces might be allowed to shoot their weapons.

"They want to throw rocks at our military, we are going to fight back … we will consider that a firearm" he had said on Thursday.

Trump changed his stance the following day.

"They do that with us, they're going to be arrested, I'm not going to shoot. We will arrest them, "he told reporters who had asked for clarification.

The Pentagon acknowledges that the military service members have the right to self-defense, but do not make public the standards for the use of force.

Collar. Manning declined to discuss a hypothetical situation with reporters on Monday. However, it should be provided that they provide military protection to other military units.

The Pentagon estimates that it will be 5,200 active duty forces in Arizona, California and Texas with more than 7,000 in coming days.

The majority of the forces are currently in Texas, where there are 1,100 service members in Arizona and California respectively.

These numbers will be more than 7,000 over coming days.

Construction units have the construction of a temporary building.

Spc. Keion Jackson

Last week, President Trump described "massive cities of tents" being built by the military that he said would house migrants seeking asylum. The aim is to ensure that CBP personnel are feeling to the border.

However, ABC News has learned that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had made an initial request to the Pentagon "to hold" migrants, according to an official U.S.

The initial DHS request was not accepted early on by the Pentagon and was not forwarded to the chain of command for approval.

The official noted that the request was made earlier than in the previous year.

Reuters was first to report that the Pentagon had been sent to the Homeland Security Department.

Asked about the Reuters report Manning declined to comment on internal deliberations between the Department of Defense and our Interagency Partners. Captain Bill Speaks, another Pentagon spokesman added, "we have not received a request from DHS to build facilities to house migrant families."

Trump said last week he plans to build tents to house migrants, who would be held in those facilities while the U.S. government weighs their asylum request.

Manning also clarified that Military Police (MP's) will be the only active duty forces to be armed during the operation. MP units have been assigned to the border mission to provide protection to the units that will be providing logistical support to CBP.

There is still no public cost estimate for the 45-day mission, but Manning said the Defense Department will "absorb" the costs of the operation.

"The costs are being determined by our comptroller and we are in a position to provide them, we will do that," said Manning.