Pentagon Prepares to Deploy Thousands of Troops From Combat Units to Southwest Border

As such, the President and his team today will immediately prioritize tackling the national security and public safety threats that have resulted from our open border. So here are some of the things that we're doing to rectify this. Today, specifically, number one, we are going to declare a national emergency at the border."

A White House official said on inauguration day

This represents a 60% increase in active-duty ground forces since President Trump was sworn-in Monday,

Acting Defense Secretary Robert Salesses said in a statement late Wednesday

In short order, the department will develop and execute additional missions in cooperation with DHS [the Department of Homeland Security], federal agencies, and state partners to address the full range of threats outlined by the President at our nation's borders,

Acting Defense Secretary Robert Salesses said in a statement

This is just the beginning,

Salesses said,

At my direction, DoD established a Task Force to oversee expedited implementation of the Executive Orders,

he said

President Trump directed action from the Department of Defense on securing our nation’s borders and made clear he expects immediate results. That is exactly what our military is doing under his leadership,

he said

[Trump] seems to be treating migration as if it were in the same way he would treat an armed attack from a foreign government,

said Elizabeth Goitein, a co-director of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law

This is the initial effort that we can do right away, and we anticipate many additional missions,

the official said