WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is planning to dispatch at least 800 active-duty troops to the southern border at the direction of a president who has sought to transform fears about immigration into electoral gains in the midterms as a caravan of thousands of migrants makes its way through Mexico.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is expected to sign an order sending the troops to the border, bolstering National Guard forces already there, an official said Thursday. The action comes as President Donald Trump has spent recent days calling attention to the caravan of Central Americans slowly making its way by foot into southern Mexico but still more than 1,000 miles from U.S. soil.
Trump, who made fear about immigrants a major theme of his 2016 election campaign, has been eager to make it a top issue heading into the Nov. 6 midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress. The president and senior White House officials have long believed the issue is key to turning out his base of supporters.
The additional troops would provide logistical and other support to the Border Patrol, said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a plan that had not been finalized and formally announced.
It’s not unusual for the National Guard to help with border security. Active-duty troops, however, are rarely deployed within the United States except for domestic emergencies like hurricanes or floods. Fears of militarizing the border were fanned by a May 1997 incident in which a Marine on a counter-narcotics mission shot to death an 18-year-old who was herding goats in Redford, Texas.
Troops being sent at Trump’s direction would not be on armed security missions. They would assist the Border Patrol by providing things such as vehicles, tents and equipment. There already are about 2,000 National Guard members there under a previous Pentagon arrangement.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in an interview with Fox News on Thursday that the Department of Homeland Security had asked the Department of Defense to “bolster” their capabilities with air support, vehicle barriers, engineering and other logistical assistance. National Guard troops can perform those same functions, so it was not immediately clear why active-duty forces were sought.
Asked if the troops would be armed, Nielsen said Mattis would decide the rules of engagement, but added: “We do not have any intention right now to shoot at people. They will be apprehended, however.”
Trump has used the caravan to bolster his election-season warnings that the U.S. is being infiltrated by immigrants “pouring across the border” illegally.
He has claimed, without any apparent basis in fact, that “Middle Easterners” were among the group.
At rallies and on Twitter, Trump has tried to portray Democrats as pro-illegal immigration, even claiming, with
no evidence, that Democrats organized the caravan.
He tweeted Thursday that “Democrat inspired laws make it tough for us to stop people at the border” and said he was using the military to respond to what he called a “National Emergency.”
