Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and border czar Tom Homan meet Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, with leaders of the southwest border mission at Fort Bliss, Texas. (Department of Defense)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shook hands Monday with troops at Fort Bliss for a deployment on the U.S. border with Mexico as Marines unloaded at Naval Base Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to begin work on migrant detention facilities.
The moves are part of increased efforts from the Pentagon to assist the Department of Homeland Security in border security. Hegseth said Monday that troops at Fort Bliss are “mission-ready and hard at work.”
His visit came about a week after the Pentagon boosted its six-year mission to the region by 1,600 active-duty service members. About 2,500 National Guard troops were already deployed in support of Customs and Border Protection at the border.
Fort Bliss in El Paso is serving as an entry point for troops to receive training before moving to a location along the border selected by Customs and Border Protection, according to U.S. Northern Command, the combatant command that is responsible for all military work at the border.
While Hegseth was there, he met with NORTHCOM leaders and spoke to soldiers assigned to the border mission, according to the posts on social media. It was Hegseth’s first trip since becoming the Pentagon’s top civilian a week ago.
The 150 Marines sent Saturday to Guantanamo are assigned to the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, according to U.S. Southern Command, the combatant command that oversees operations in the region. Additional troops from SOUTHCOM and Army South also deployed.
Marines with the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division disembark from a C-130 Hercules aircraft at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (Jovi Prevot/U.S. Navy)
The Navy base already houses detained migrants and will increase capacity at the facility, according to the White House.
The mission at the southwest border began in 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term and continued under President Joe Biden.
On Trump’s first day back in the White House, he signed an executive order declaring an emergency at the border and ordered additional active-duty service members be deployed to “seal” it.
Because an 1878 law — known as the Posse Comitatus Act — bars service members from serving in law enforcement roles, troops primarily work to support Border Patrol with work that includes detection and monitoring, data entry, training, transportation, vehicle maintenance, warehousing and logistical support.
This includes helicopter support for aerial reconnaissance to help Customs and Border Protection personnel on the ground.
The new orders have also assigned military aircraft to begin deportation flights with trips already completed to Guatemala and Ecuador, according to NORTHCOM.
The new orders signed by Trump also direct the Pentagon to provide a report on conditions within three months and make any recommended changes to the plan, including whether to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, which allows the president to deploy the military domestically for civilian law enforcement.
Up to 1,000 additional troops will soon join the effort, according to The Associated Press. That will include 500 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum in New York, and another 500 Marines slated to work in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where Trump said he will detain migrants, according to the report.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth meets Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, with leaders of the southwest border mission at Fort Bliss, Texas. (Department of Defense)
