The Department of Defense sent about 5,800 active duty, reserve, and National Guard forces, including 1,100 Camp Pendleton-based Marines, to the southern border ahead of the ongoing migrant caravan.
On Monday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection temporarily shut down all northbound lanes into the U.S. at the San Ysidro Port of Entry so troops could position moveable barriers, the agency said.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen called this part of the “hardening efforts,” claiming “a large # of caravan migrants were planning to rush the border in an attempt to gain illegal access to the US,” in a tweet.
San Ysidro is the border’s busiest crossing, with about 110,000 people entering the U.S. every day. That traffic includes some 40,000 vehicles, 34,000 pedestrians and 150 to 200 buses.
U.S. Marine Lt. Dustin Pavlick said his platoon of about 45 Marines was working on “construction and reinforcing this obstacle to support the mission of Customs and Border Protection.”
Their goal was to get “a half a mile of wire on this wall,” Pavlick said.
The Department of Defense said the troops would not interact with migrants but would complete “border hardening” tasks, like using pieces of barbed wire, concrete roadblocks and rebar to create movable barriers that can be used to block lanes at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa Ports of Entry.
Analysts and the Pentagon estimate that the entire deployment operation could cost $200 million.
Here’s a look into the United States’ “border hardening” efforts:
U.S. Marines with 1st Combat Engineer Battalion were sent as part of the effort by the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the United States Northern Command’s effort to secure the border perimeter near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.
Of the 5,800 active duty, reserve, and National Guard forces sent to the border, 1,100 of them were Camp Pendleton-based Marines.
U.S. Marines with Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force 7 were sent to reinforce the border at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.
Troops were sent to complete “border hardening” tasks, like using pieces of barbed wire, concrete roadblocks and rebar to create movable barriers that can be used to block lanes at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa Ports of Entry.
The Department of Defense said the troops would not interact with migrants during these efforts.
San Ysidro is the border’s busiest crossing, with about 110,000 people entering the U.S. every day. That traffic includes some 40,000 vehicles, 34,000 pedestrians and 150 to 200 buses.
President Donald Trump tweeted an image of the increased security efforts, saying “no climbers anymore under our Administration!” Images captured last week showed migrants, in celebration that they reached the U.S. border, scale that same fence and walk or sit atop it.
San Ysidro Port of Entry’s northbound lanes were temporarily closed ahead of the ongoing migrant caravan approaching the border.
All Photos Obtained via NBC LA.
