Adrees Latif/Reuters
The Pentagon announced all active-duty troops sent to the U.S. southern border ahead of a migrant caravan’s arrival will begin to drawdown, just as that caravan of asylum-seeking refugees began to arrive at a port of entry in Tijuana, Mexico.
Army Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, who runs the mission out of Texas, told Politico that the troops sent by President Trump to back up existing border enforcement “should be home by Christmas.” He also said troop numbers would rapidly fall after “engineer and logistics troops” finish fortifying entry ports and base camps along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Buchanan also confirmed that the Pentagon rejected a Department of Homeland Security request for “armed force to back up Border Patrol agents in the event of a violent confrontation,” describing the request as a “law enforcement task.” Migrants started arriving in Tijuana by the hundreds late last week, with Mexican officials worrying about how to house the influx of migrants.