On Friday, the United States military began deporting migrants by C-17 aircraft. President Donald Trump had so ordered it; it marked a new point in the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. The Pentagon is putting final touches to deploying more troops to the US-Mexico border amid tensions along the frontiers. The deployment includes members of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.
Trump, who declared illegal immigration a national emergency on his first day in office, had directed the military to assist in securing the southern border. Sweeping asylum ban and measures to limit citizenship for children born on US soil are some of the other actions taken by the president under an aggressive stance on immigration reform.
On January 20, Trump signed an executive order instructing the Pentagon to send as many troops as needed to establish “complete operational control” over the southern border. The first wave of deportation flights, with two US military aircraft transporting around 80 migrants each to Guatemala, began on Friday.
This comes on the heels of other announcements made by the Trump administration to add an additional 1,500 active-duty troops to the border. A second wave of deployment that could be as high as thousands from the 82nd Airborne Division may be implemented as early as next week, final decisions have not yet been reached.
Typically assigned to overseas missions, the potential involvement of the 82nd Airborne Division in domestic operations highlights the gravity of the situation. Although informal discussions have indicated that as many as 10,000 troops might eventually be sent, the actual number of troops deployed will depend on a variety of logistical and operational considerations.
