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- The Trump administration is using US troops and military assets in its costly immigration crackdown.
- Navy warships, military aircraft, and combat vehicles have been deployed to the US-Mexico border.
- The Pentagon has spent $376 million on militarizing the southern US border since January 20.
US Navy destroyers are cruising coastal waters, spy planes are flying overhead, and troops are out patrolling desert trails in armored fighting vehicles.
America’s southern border is starting to resemble a military front line as the Trump administration ramps up its crackdown on illegal immigration at the divide between the US and Mexico.
President Donald Trump swiftly put his mass deportation plan into motion after taking office, using US military personnel and assets to execute it by formally declaring illegal immigration a federal emergency.
About 10,000 active-duty troops have been deployed to support the Pentagon’s southern border operation, as have two warships, a handful of military aircraft, and over 100 combat vehicles.
Costly crackdown on immigration
On April 1, Defense Department officials said the militarization at the US-Mexico border had cost roughly $376 million since Trump returned to the White House on January 20, or about $5.3 million per day.
After making illegal immigration a major campaign issue, with Trump criticizing Biden’s border policies, the Trump White House has touted plummeting numbers of illicit border crossings. US Customs and Border Patrol reported that March saw the lowest number of attempted crossings in decades.
Illegal immigration was already on the decline prior to the start of Trump’s second term, but the president is taking things further. He’s got numerous military assets at the border. Here’s what the administration has deployed.
Thousands of troops
During a House Armed Services Committee hearing on April 1, Pentagon officials said 6,700 active-duty troops had been deployed to the US-Mexico border, in addition to about 2,500 National Guardsmen that were already stationed there.
Only Border Patrol agents or civilian law enforcement can actually apprehend migrants, leaving a large majority of the troops tasked with “detection and monitoring,” Gen. Gregory Guillot, the commander of the US Northern Command, said.
Active-duty forces are limited in their actions on US soil.
The general said that deployed military personnel “operating in close proximity to the border” are armed with rifles or pistols, and military officials are seeking authorization for troops to shoot down suspected cartel drones surveilling the border.
USS Gravely
Two Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers — USS Gravely and USS Spruance — have also been deployed to help “restore territorial integrity at the US southern border,” officials said in two statements in March.
“Gravely’s sea-going capacity improves our ability to protect the United States’ territorial integrity, sovereignty, and security,” Guillot said. The destroyer departed Yorktown, Virginia, in mid-March to waters off the Texas coast to support the border mission and counter maritime weapons and drug crime in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Gravely played a key role in Red Sea combat prior to this deployment. In December 2023, USS Gravely shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles and was involved in sinking three Houthi small boats, marking the first time the US Navy killed Houthi fighters since the Red Sea conflict began.
USS Spruance
A second Navy destroyer, USS Spruance, which also saw combat in the Red Sea, left its homeport in San Diego last month to patrol waters off the West Coast as part of the border operation.
Guillot said that the warship “brings additional capability and expands the geography of unique military capabilities working with the Department of Homeland Security.”
“With Spruance off the West Coast and USS Gravely in the Gulf of America, our maritime presence contributes to the all-domain, coordinated DOD response to the Presidential Executive Order and demonstrates our resolve to achieve operational control of the border,” the general added.
The warships have been conducting operations alongside the Coast Guard.
Airlifters flying deportation flights
Migrant deportations are typically carried out using civilian charter flights operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Trump administration supplemented the deportation effort by using military cargo aircraft, like the C-17 Globemaster and C-130 Hercules, to transport migrants to Guatemala, Ecuador, Honduras, Panama, Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, and even India.
Military vs civilian flight costs
But the military aircraft, which are designed to transport both troops and cargo, come with a steep operational price tag. It costs about $28,000 per flight for one deportation on a C-17, whereas civilian flights cost an estimated $8,500.
Following backlash from Democratic lawmakers, the Trump administration halted military deportation flights in early March.
Though there are no further flights scheduled, Air Force Gen. Randall Reed told the Senate Armed Services Committee in March that his command is prepared to carry them out should the order be reversed.
“If I get the task, I’ll absolutely fly it,” Reed said.
Surveillance aircraft and drones
The big cargo planes aren’t the only military aircraft being used at the southern US border. Spy planes and drones have been conducting regular intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance flights.
Reconnaissance aircraft like the U-2 “Dragon Lady” and Boeing RC-135 Rivet Joint have been used for ISR missions above Mexico. The Navy has also reportedly used Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime reconnaissance aircraft to conduct maritime patrol and surveillance along the US-Mexico border.
Additionally, there have been reports of MQ-9 Reaper drones conducting flights as well. The Reaper is an uncrewed surveillance and combat asset.
The Trump administration also directed Pentagon intelligence agencies to direct satellite surveillance to the southern border region, Reuters reported last month.
Armored vehicles
Border patrol agents typically drive SUVs, sedans, and pick-up trucks donning a green-and-white paint scheme to traverse the rugged terrain at the border.
But as more active-duty troops are deployed to the region, armored tactical vehicles have become a regular sight in an apparent intimidation tactic.
“This sends a clear and unequivocal message to the criminal organizations operating on either side of the border that we will not tolerate illegal incursions or illicit activities along our border,” Border Patrol spokesman Claudio Herrera-Baeza said.
He added that “these vehicles have incredible detection technology that the Border Patrol will incorporate into its mission of safeguarding our borders.”
‘More military assets’
The US Army sent over 100 Stryker armored fighting vehicles, along with hundreds of soldiers, to an installation near the border between Yuma, Arizona, and El Paso, Texas. Black Hawk helicopters and Chinooks for support aviation were also deployed.
Typically deployed to warzones, the 20-ton eight-wheeled Stryker combat vehicles can be armed with a machine gun or grenade launcher and carry up to 11 troops. They can also reach speeds of up to 60 mph and have a range of 300 miles.
“That’s really what we’re doing with the Stryker out here,” Lt. Col. Travis Stellfox told Scripps News. “It provides us great mobility to get soldiers where they need to be to observe on the border.”
There is always the possibility more military assets could be deployed. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said previously that “whatever is needed at the border will be provided.”
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