The Department of Homeland Security asked the Pentagon on Friday for a 45-day extension of the U.S. military presence at the Mexico border, a request that would stretch the deployment until at least the end of January.
The Defense Department is expected to agree to the extension in the coming days, well ahead of the mission’s current expiration date, which is Dec. 15. Pentagon officials have said some of the 6,000 active-duty personnel stationed along the border in Texas, Arizona and California would be brought home and replaced by other units.
President Trump ordered the deployment to preempt the arrival of thousands of Central American migrants traveling in caravan groups and seeking to enter the United States. His administration has characterized the migrants, who have concentrated along Mexico’s border with California, as a grave security threat.
View the complete November 30 article by Nick Miroff on the Washington Post website here.