A UNITED States general has announced there are currently about 5,000 active-duty soldiers along the country’s southern border with Mexico, as part of President Donald Trump’s overall push to crack down on immigration.
General Gregory Guillot, the head of US Northern Command, told lawmakers on Thursday he expects that number could increase further.
He also revealed that the military has heightened its activities in the domain of cross-border intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). Drug cartels were the primary target.
“We have also increased some uniquely military capabilities that will get after … the cartels, which are driving the illegal migration,” said Guillot. “That is primarily through airborne ISR to get more information on those and figure out how we can counter their actions.”
The presence of thousands of US soldiers along the border with Mexico fulfils a campaign pledge made by President Donald Trump to declare a “national emergency” at the southern US border.
On January 20, the first day of his second term, Trump signed an executive order that directed military leaders to send “as many units or members of the Armed Forces” as needed to the border, to obtain “complete operational control” of the area.
He also called on the US secretary of transportation to waive restrictions on “unmanned aerial systems” within eight kilometres (five miles) of the border.
During his time as a politician, Trump has leaned into nativist rhetoric that frames undocumented immigration as an “invasion” and the people involved as “criminals”. Shutting the border to irregular crossings has been a cornerstone of his campaign for re-election, as has launching a “mass deportation” campaign.
Trump has also exerted pressure on his country’s neighbours to restrict undocumented immigration, including through the use of tariffs.
In November, before taking office, Trump announced he planned to impose 25-percent tariffs on all goods from Canada and Mexico, the country’s two largest trading partners, in order to force them to halt trafficking of drugs and people across their shared borders with the US.
After being sworn in, Trump followed through with his promise, announcing the tariffs would take effect in early February.
But both Canada and Mexico negotiated deals with Trump to postpone the tariffs in exchange for concessions.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, for instance, sent 10,000 members of her country’s National Guard to the border with the US in the name of combating drug trafficking and irregular migration.
The US and Mexico have long collaborated on efforts to crack down on migration, which critics say often comes at the expense of human rights.
After all, not all irregular migration is illegal. US and international law protects the rights of asylum seekers to flee across borders to escape persecution.