The United States is sealing the border with Mexico

Less than a week into office, US President Donald Trump began implementing his pledge to seal the border with Mexico and increase militarization in that area.

According to CNN, a contingent of about 1,500 soldiers is expected to arrive at the border area to join the nearly 2,200 operational forces as part of the Joint Task Force - North, which is based in El Paso, Texas.

“Their first operations should begin within the next 24 to 48 hours. They are moving right now, as we sit here,” a senior military official told reporters.

At the border, these troops typically support the work of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, primarily performing logistical and bureaucratic tasks such as data entry, screening and monitoring, and vehicle maintenance.

Acting Defense Secretary Robert Salesses said he has ordered the Defense Department to begin building up its forces on the southwest border by 1,500 troops.

Additionally, Salesses told the press that helicopters with associated crews and intelligence analysts will also be added to the force to support increased detection and monitoring efforts, according to CNN.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt explained Trump's strategy. “President Trump signed an executive order - 1500 additional troops to United States southern border. This comes off of his day-one action…to direct the Department of Defense to make homeland security a core mission of the agency,” as reported by CNN.

AP explains that this is nothing new in the United States. During his first term, Trump ordered the deployment of more than 7,000 troops in Texas, Arizona and California to deal with a caravan of migrants heading to the border in 2018.

According to Infobae, a federal law dating back to the 19th century expressly prohibits the military from carrying out law enforcement tasks on US soil. That is, they cannot, for example, detain migrants at the border.

To do so, Trump would have to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, which would allow troops to be used for law enforcement purposes within the country. Will the tycoon be willing to go that far?

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