US Marines arrive at Mexico border amid immigration crackdown
US Marines have begun arriving at the Mexico border in response to President Trump's immigration crackdown, with an initial deployment of 1500 troops assisting with barrier construction.
Dramatic footage released by the Trump administration shows Marines arriving at the US border with Mexico after President Trump ordered a crackdown on illegal immigration.
A video shared on social media by Dan Scavino, Donald Trump's deputy chief of staff, portrays troops marching into helicopters before those choppers touch down next to the border walls.
The video also indicates the troops unloading their gear from the helicopters while conferring with local authorities.
The soldiers are part of an immediate deployment of 1500 troops to the border to assist with constructing barriers.
Acting defence secretary Robert Salesses stated that the troop deployment was "just the beginning".
"In short order, the department will develop and execute additional missions in cooperation with DHS, federal agencies, and state partners to address the full range of threats outlined by the President at our nation's borders," Salesses said.
On Thursday, government officials indicated that the administration was also prepared to send as many as 2000 additional troops if required.
Officials clarified that the troops would not be undertaking law enforcement at this stage. Any future decision on this would be made by the White House, they stated.
The active duty forces will join roughly 2500 US National Guard and Reserve forces already present. Until this deployment, there were no active duty troops working along the roughly 3200km border.
The deployment, occurring in Trump's first week in office, was an early step in his long-touted plan to expand the use of the military along the border.
In one of his initial orders on Monday, Trump directed the defence secretary to devise a plan to "seal the borders" and repel "unlawful mass migration".
"This is something President Trump campaigned on," said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
"The American people have been waiting for such a time as this -- for our Department of Defence to actually implement homeland security seriously. This is a No.1 priority for the American people."
Trump stated during his inaugural address on Monday that "I will declare a national emergency at our southern border. All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places in which they came".
Military personnel have been dispatched to the border almost continuously since the 1990s to aid in addressing migration, drug trafficking, and transnational crime.
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