Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is traveling to the United States’ southern border with Mexico on Monday, his first trip in the role since his confirmation on Jan. 24.
While there, Hegseth will visit Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, where active-duty U.S. troops have been stationed to help control immigration. Later, he will meet with troops fortifying barriers along the border itself.
Hegseth will also likely announce a further 400 to 500 troops heading to the area. Members of the 10th Mountain Division, stationed at Fort Drum in New York, will travel to Texas this week to set up a separate headquarters to command the military’s expanded role at the U.S.-Mexico border. Right now, the mission is being coordinated by the same group that oversees other operations in the U.S. homeland, such as wildfires and natural disasters.
The trip is a clear statement of priorities from Hegseth in his second week leading the Pentagon. Just before he took office, the Defense Department sent 1,500 active-duty troops to the border to survey the area and assist law enforcement with logistics and fencing. The Pentagon also sent a tranche of helicopters and aircraft, which are now deporting migrants to countries in Latin and South America.
There are now 4,000 active-duty personnel stationed at the border, part of a far more aggressive use of the U.S. military in immigration enforcement promised under President Donald Trump’s second administration.
Northern Command, which oversees military operations for the continental U.S., has already updated its plans to help “seal” the border and is working on other alterations ordered by the president. The Defense Department is also preparing to use its military site in Guantanamo Bay to detain tens of thousands of deported migrants. The plans, which will surely face legal scrutiny given that the base sits on Cuban territory, would drastically alter the site’s mission — formerly to hold a small number of suspected terrorists.
Over the weekend, Hegseth spoke with his counterparts in Mexico. On the call, according to a Pentagon readout, he “underscored that his top priority is to safeguard the United States and its citizens, to include securing the southern border.”
Noah Robertson is the Pentagon reporter at Defense News. He previously covered national security for the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and government from the College of William & Mary in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia.
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