Trump's serious take to get rid of the illegal immigrants at the Mexico-United States border is increasing as it goes. While not specified, it’s estimated that about 3,000 active-duty troops are being deployed, and Hegseth has also ordered the Stryker brigade combat team for the mission.

Update: In April 2025, Trump ordered troops to begin taking control of federal lands across the U.S.-Mexico border. Now, migrants could be detained as criminals, and the construction of a border wall can begin virtually immediately.

The Pentagon Scrambles as Troops Are Deployed

With the hope that President Trump will stop illegal migrants from crossing the Mexico-United States border, in the directive of Trump, the Pentagon will reinforce more power by incorporating more active-duty troops into the Mexico-U.S. border.

Around 3,000 more active-duty troops are being sent to help fly immigrants out of the U.S. and build barriers to the Mexico-United States border.

At this point, the troops deployed in the U.S. have been estimated at about 9,200 all over the southern U.S., including 4,200 under federal orders, and about 5,000 National Guard troops are at the southern border. The active-duty troops came from Marine units in Camp Pendleton, CA, and Army units in Texas, Kentucky, New York, Georgia, Kansas, Colorado, and Washington.

This is believed to be the first of many related steps that will result in more aggressive border and immigration policies continuing to roll out under the Trump administration.

Additionally, while the U.S. troops are deployed on the Mexico-United States border, military C-17 planes are also conducting deportation flights out of Tucson International Airport. However, during Trump’s second term, his administration is aiming to bring forth a historic crackdown.

In addition to strengthening the military process, Trump's defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, gave support to Trump. Pete has ordered his troops to be added from the land battle with the Stryker brigade combat team and support the air monitoring by the aviation battalion.

Trump Orders Troops to Take Control of Federal Lands, Roosevelt Reservation

There’s a new push unfolding along the southern border, and it’s reshaping not just policy, but the land itself.

President Trump issued a directive in April 2025, giving the U.S. military direct control over parts of the southern border, starting with the Roosevelt Reservation.

This 60-foot-wide strip of federally owned land stretches across California, Arizona, and New Mexico. It was originally set aside by Theodore Roosevelt in 1907 to prevent smuggling.

Using the military to take control of this area is once again thrusting Trump's dream of a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border while turning public land into a militarized zone.

This move effectively hands over jurisdiction to the Department of Defense, bypassing the usual layers of civilian control.

If this were private property, the government would still have a long legal fight ahead of it with various processes in place. However, since the Roosevelt Reservation is already federal land, these hurdles don't exist, allowing construction crews can get to work building walls with few hurdles.

For communities along the border, many of whom have family, cultural ties, or even daily routines that stretch across both sides, the presence of the military adds to an atmosphere growing with tension and fear.

The use of military force against migrants, many of whom are simply desperate families seeking asylum, is allowing troops to detain them for trespassing on military property, escalating things further.

By classifying these areas as “holding zones,” the administration is skirting laws that prevent the military from acting in a law enforcement capacity on U.S. soil.

That shift has real consequences as it blurs the line between humanitarian response and military enforcement, and it risks turning migration into a criminalized act punishable by military force.

The plan starts in select locations, but the Secretary of Defense now has the authority to expand it across more federal lands at any time.

The Role of United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM)

Through an executive order, Trump's deployment of troops on day one sets a precedent of expectation for what’s to come. Trump's security and policies point to the strengthening of the Mexico-United States border in order to prevent the number of illegal immigrants from prospering in their country.

This includes figuring out what the role of the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) will be. An organization typically worrying about missile and airspace security for North America has now been brought in to help maintain our borders.

"No later than 10 days from the effective date of this order, deliver to the president a revision to the Unified Command Plan that assigns United States Northern Command the mission to seal the borders and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States by repelling forms of invasion including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities," reads Trump's executive orders.

Mass Deportations are Now Being Conducted

With troops deployed in the U.S., the DOD is also using them to transport more than 5,000 detained immigrants from San Diego and El Paso while also assisting with building physical border barriers. In line with this, the quota that has been issued to ICE is to arrest 1,200 to 1,500 people per day.

All of these actions, however, come into Trump’s plan to fight back against cartels while discouraging future immigration efforts.

Many people seek asylum by traveling to the U.S. with the promise to live their lives in safety and with the assurance of the United States' support, but Trump's greatest goal to guard the border affects many Mexicans seeking asylum in the U.S.

One of the fundamental reasons why Trump deployed for many active military duties in Mexico-U.S. was to stop illegal immigrants, especially Mexicans, from crossing into the United States of America.

With great effort and military power deployed on the Mexico-United States border, the challenges of illegal migrants in crossing the border and seeking asylum will not proceed as pushing it may result in death and imprisonment.

The Role of Additional U.S. Troops in Border Security

The added active military troops will serve as the frontline in the Mexico-U.S. border. Eventually, U.S. troops will spot and monitor possible breakthroughs of illegal immigrants on the border.

U.S. military troops guarding the Mexico-United States border will detect and prevent illegal migrants and smuggling operations in the form of land, air, and sea. With more troops deployed, these acts of criminal provisions will not be tolerated.

California, New Mexico, and Texas aren’t the only states seeing an increase in troops under the Trump administration.

The U.S. Coast Guard also deployed additional ships, boats, and aircraft to South Florida and other regions in an effort to increase anti-maritime immigration. This comes after Adm. Linda Fagan was replaced by Adm. Kevin Lunday.

With the troops deployed now, immigration numbers have dropped for months, and it appears that more efforts are needed to keep levels low in the future.

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Sources:

• The Pentagon Is Sending About 3,000 More Active-Duty Troops to the US-Mexico Border
• Pentagon Sending Combat Forces to the Border in Line With Trump Directive