On Friday, January 24th, the US military began to evacuate immigrants using C-17 military transport planes under President Donald Trump’s orders. At the same time, the Pentagon is preparing to deploy additional troops to the southern border, including the elite 82nd Airborne Division.
President Trump declared the surge of illegal immigrants as a “national emergency” on his inauguration day, requesting military assistance in maintaining border security. He also issued a comprehensive asylum ban and measures to restrict children born to illegal immigrants on US soil from obtaining citizenship.
In an executive order on January 20th, Trump instructed the Pentagon to deploy as many troops as possible to “fully control the southern border of the United States.”
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt announced on social media, “The deportation flights have taken off.”
An American official told reporters that on Friday, two US military planes flew from the United States to Guatemala, each carrying around 80 immigrants.
Earlier this week, the Trump administration announced that the US military would deploy 1,500 active-duty troops to the border adjacent to Mexico.
US officials stated that the military is preparing to deploy a second batch of troops to the border with Mexico as early as next week, which may include units from the 82nd Airborne Division. The official mentioned that the number of additional troops could reach thousands, but a formal decision has not been made yet.
The 82nd Airborne Division is typically deployed to crisis or conflict zones worldwide upon notification, rather than to the border regions between the US and Mexico.
Earlier this week, Reuters reported that while the final numbers are yet to be finalized, unofficial discussions have determined deploying up to 10,000 soldiers to the border in phases based on military readiness status.
(This article references reporting from Reuters)