Thousands of US troops head for southern border
Updated 07:09, 02-Nov-2018
CGTN
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The Pentagon is deploying 5,200 active-duty troops to beef up security along the US-Mexico border, officials announced Monday, in a bid to prevent a caravan of Central American migrants from illegally crossing the frontier. 
The move represents a massive military buildup along the border, where some 2,000 National Guardsmen are already working to assist the overwhelmed authorities.  
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Trump in recent weeks has repeatedly said more troops are needed to tighten border security, and he has made political capital of the caravan ahead of crucial midterm congressional elections that could see the Democrats regain some degree of power. 
According to US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan, US authorities are tracking a group of about 3,500 people traveling north through the Chiapas-Oaxaca area in southern Mexico.  
US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan speaks about the Department of Defense deployment to the southwest border during a press conference in Washington, DC, October 29, 2018. /VCG Photo

US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan speaks about the Department of Defense deployment to the southwest border during a press conference in Washington, DC, October 29, 2018. /VCG Photo

Additionally, officials were monitoring another group of about 3,000 people that had gathered at a border crossing between Guatemala and Mexico. 
Even as US officials unveiled details of the military deployment, migrants were trying to cross the Suchiate River from Guatemala into Mexico on rafts made from truck tires, or by forming human chains to avoid being swept away.  
Others swam across after Mexican authorities refused to open a border bridge. McAleenan described the situation along the US-Mexico frontier as a "border security and humanitarian crisis," and said border agents over the past three weeks had apprehended about 1,900 people per day illegally crossing.  
"Over half of these arrivals have been made up of family units and unaccompanied children who place themselves in the hands of violent human smugglers, paying 7,000 (US dollars) per person to make the journey," McAleenan said. 
"They are incentivized to try to cross our border by the gaps in our legal framework and the expectation that they would be allowed to stay." The massive deployment marks a sharp increase from initial estimates last week when US officials said about 800 active-duty troops would head south. 
Border Patrol officers keep watch before US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen inaugurates the first completed section of President Trump's 30-foot border wall in the El Centro Sector, at the US Mexico border in Calexico, California, October 26, 2018. /VCG Photo

Border Patrol officers keep watch before US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen inaugurates the first completed section of President Trump's 30-foot border wall in the El Centro Sector, at the US Mexico border in Calexico, California, October 26, 2018. /VCG Photo

It means that within days, the US military will have more than three times as many troops along the southern border as it does fighting the ISIL in Syria. 

'Please go back'

Trump last week expressed frustration that the issue, which had been attracting growing cable news attention, had slipped from front pages as a series of mail bombs targeted top figures of the Democratic Party. 
He took to Twitter on Monday to again blast the migrant caravan, which is comprised mainly of Hondurans – many of whom are fleeing horrific gang violence. 
"Many Gang Members and some very bad people are mixed into the Caravan heading to our Southern Border," Trump wrote without providing evidence, doubling down on the hardline anti-immigrant rhetoric that helped fuel his 2016 election victory. 
"Please go back. You will not be admitted into the United States unless you go through the legal process. This is an invasion of our Country, and our Military is waiting for you!" 
Trump has been campaigning intensively for weeks, frequently hammering on the migrant caravan issue.  
Air Force General Terrence O'Shaughnessy, head of the US military's Northern Command, told reporters the 5,200 troops would focus on trying to "harden" border crossings and surrounding areas, with work done by combat engineering battalions with experience building temporary fencing.  
Source(s): AFP