3,750 troops sent to US - Mexico border

The United States Department of Defence announced yesterday that 3,750 more troops were being sent to the US-Mexico border for three months, in this time they are to string up about 240 meters of concertina wire and provide logistic support to border agents. Counting the new troops, the total number of soldiers on the border with Mexico will rise to 4,350, a Pentagon spokesperson reported. According to the same source, the military will have two main missions: operating surveillance cameras in the states of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas until September 30; as well as stringing up 240 kilometers of concertina wire. For the moment, the soldiers are being sent for a period of three months, but the Pentagon “will continue to evaluate the composition of the force necessary to fulfill the mission of protecting and securing the southern border” said the spokesman of the US Department of Defence. A 1878 US law prohibits the use of soldiers for security and public order jobs at a state level. That is why, according to the US authorities, the military cannot stop migrants crossing the border without documentation. The deployment of the new troops was approved on 11 January by the acting Secretary of Defence, Patrick Shanahan, but until yesterday the number of troops was unknown.