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Reuters

The Pentagon said about 7,000 troops could be deployed to the border with Mexico if needed, a US official said on Wednesday.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the number was an initial estimate and could change.

“The total number of troops deployed will change each day as military forces flow into the operating area, but initial estimates indicate the Department of Defence has identified approximately 7,000 troops to support, if required, Operation Faithful Patriot,” the official said.
They said about 2,000 of the 7,000 would be on standby in case they were needed.
Donald Trump says that US will use military to guard border with Mexico until a wall can be built
On Tuesday, the top US general overseeing a deployment of more than 5,200 troops to the border with Mexico said troop levels would rise further, but would not say how high or estimate how much the operation would cost.

Many basic questions remained unanswered days after the Pentagon announced the open-ended deployment of over 5,200 active-duty troops to the border, including the scope of the mission as well as the Pentagon’s assessment of any threat posed by arriving migrants.
President Donald Trump has hardened his stance on immigration ahead of the November 6 congressional elections.
He has drawn attention to a caravan of migrants trekking through Mexico toward the United States as he seeks to fire up support for Republican candidates ahead of hotly contested midterm elections for the US House of Representatives and the Senate.
Trump calls US-bound migrant caravan from Central America a national emergency
Republican lawmakers and other Trump supporters have applauded the deployment. But critics say Trump is politicising the military, deploying them as a stunt to drive Republican voters to the polls without any real national security threat.


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Donald Trump

Pentagon says about 7,000 troops could be sent to Mexico border for Operation Faithful Patriot

Troops get ready to board a C-130J Super Hercules on Monday in support of Operation Faithful Patriot. Photo: AP

This Oct. 29, 2018 photo provided by the U.S. Air Force shows soldiers from Task Force Griffin receive a legal briefing as they prepare to deploy to support and enable Customs and Border Protection and other supporting interagency partners to secure the Southwest Border. The Trump administration on Monday, Oct. 29, 2018, announced plans to deploy 5,200 active duty troops, double the 2,000 who are in Syria fighting the Islamic State group, to the border to help stave off the caravans. The main caravan, still in southern Mexico, was continuing to melt away, from the original 7,000 to about 4,000, as a smaller group apparently hoped to join it. (Airman 1st Class Zoe M. Wockenfuss/U.S. Air Force via AP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on October 30, 2018 a truck carrying mostly Honduran migrants taking part in a caravan heading to the US, passes by a wind farm on their way from Santiago Niltepec to Juchitan, near the town of La Blanca in Oaxaca State, Mexico. - President Donald Trump kept up the pressure on Mexico October 31, 2018 to halt groups of migrants heading to the American border, as the US enters the final stretch of campaigning before key midterm elections. Trump has sought to put immigration front and center ahead of next week's hotly-contested vote, ordering thousands of troops to the southern border and threatening to end automatic citizenship for US-born children of immigrants. (Photo by GUILLERMO ARIAS / AFP)

A new migrant caravan is making its way to the United States

Salvadoran migrants gather in a caravan to start their journey towards the United States. Photo: AFP

Mounted Border Patrol officers patrol 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 on October 26, 2018. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP)

Central American migrants run from Mexican authorities during clashes on a border bridge that connects Guatemala and Mexico, in Tecun Uman, Guatemala, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018. A new group of migrants, who called themselves a second caravan, gathered on a bridge after forcing their way through a gate at the Guatemalan end. (AP Photo/Santiago Billy)

Trump may ban migrants’ entry as Pentagon mulls sending 1,000 troops to Mexico border in response to caravan

Department of Homeland Security asked for help at the border, including for ‘some air support … some logistics, planning, vehicle barriers, engineering’
               Donald Trump had called for a military response to stop the migrant caravan travelling through Mexico towards the US on foot

Migrants, part of a caravan of thousands from Central America en route to the United States, make their way to Pijijiapan from Mapastepec, Mexico October 25, 2018. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

Migrants, part of a caravan of thousands from Central America en route to the United States, make their way to Pijijiapan from Mapastepec, Mexico, at dawn on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

Trump calls US-bound migrant caravan from Central America a national emergency

A Mexican federal police helicopter overflies Honduran migrants heading in a caravan to the US on Monday. Photo: AFP

A Honduran migrant covers his face with sunscreen standing over a bridge that stretches over the Suchiate River connecting Guatemala and Mexico, in Tecun Uman, Guatemala, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018. Guatemala's migration agency confirmed that another group of about 1,000 migrants crossed into the country from Honduras on Sunday. (AP Photo/Oliver de Ros)

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Donald Trump deployed the soldiers to strengthen the southern border before a caravan of migrants arrives



Donald Trump deployed the soldiers to strengthen the southern border before a caravan of migrants arrives.


US immigration

US midterm elections 2018

United States

Pentagon says about 7,000 troops could be sent to Mexico border for Operation Faithful Patriot

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Donald Trump deployed the soldiers to strengthen the southern border before a caravan of migrants arrives

Donald Trump deployed the soldiers to strengthen the southern border before a caravan of migrants arrives