The White House announced Wednesday that the US military will deploy an additional 1,500 active-duty troops to the US-Mexico border, following President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on immigration.

The new deployment will include 500 Marines, alongside Army helicopter crews and intelligence analysts, bolstering the 2,200 active-duty troops and thousands of National Guard members already stationed at the border prior to Trump’s inauguration earlier this week.

"This comes off of (Trump's) day one action... to direct the Department of Defense to make homeland security a core mission of the agency," White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

Why it matters

During his first term, Republican Trump had deployed 5,200 troops to secure the southern border, a policy also reflected in the actions of Democratic former President Joe Biden, who stationed active-duty troops at the border as well.

Another official, speaking anonymously, revealed there have been informal discussions about potentially deploying as many as 10,000 troops in the future. However, the final number would depend on factors such as military readiness and requests from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Acting Defense Secretary Robert Salesses explained that the military would also assist DHS with deportation flights for over 5,000 immigrants detained in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego, California. "DHS will provide in-flight law enforcement, and the State Department will obtain the requisite diplomatic clearances," Salesses said.

A Pentagon official clarified that the 1,500 additional troops being sent would not assume law enforcement duties.

Dive deeper

On his first day back in office, Trump declared illegal immigration a national emergency, instructing the military to aid border security and issuing an executive order to achieve "complete operational control of the southern border of the United States." The order also called for the Defense and Homeland Security departments to recommend within 90 days whether further measures, including invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807, might be necessary.

The Insurrection Act, which permits the president to deploy military forces to address domestic insurrection, has historically been used to quell civil unrest.

Trump recaptured the White House after pledging to strengthen border security and ramp up deportations. He criticized Biden’s handling of illegal immigration, though illegal crossings had already declined sharply after Biden toughened his policies and Mexico increased enforcement.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard announced a plan to "immediately surge" forces and ships to key areas, including the southeast border near Florida, to "deter and prevent a maritime mass migration from Haiti and/or Cuba." The agency also cited the maritime border between Texas and Mexico in the "Gulf of America" as another critical focus.

Trump has voiced his intention to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.