The Pentagon is ordering thousands of additional U.S. Army soldiers to the U.S.-Mexico border, including a Stryker Brigade Combat Team and helicopter support units, in the latest expansion of the border mission by the Trump administration.
Nearly 3,000 additional soldiers, mainly from the 4th Infantry Division’s 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat unit as well as an aviation battalion, will head to the southern border, the Department of Defense announced on Saturday afternoon. That includes 2,400 from the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT), 4th Infantry Division, as well as 500 soldiers from 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade from Fort Stewart. The additional combat troops are being sent “to reinforce and expand current border security operations to seal the border and protect the territorial integrity of the United States,” a senior defense official said in the Pentagon’s statement.
The Saturday afternoon announcement comes after U.S. Northern Command announced it was sending roughly 1,140 soldiers from Army sustainment units to the U.S.-Mexico border, to support Customs and Border Protection as well as troops already there. The two announcements mark the second major bolstering of American forces at the southern border since the Trump administration took power in January.
“The additional tranche will provide sustainment support to the already announced Joint Task Force for southern border operations, including: command and control of sustainment units and coordination of logistical support; field feeding support sites; and control of logistical movement,” NORTHCOM said in its release on the deployments.
NORTHCOM did not say when they are expected to arrive along the border or where specifically they will be active. The units being deployed include:
- 101st Division Sustainment Brigade, Fort Campbell, Kentucky
- Alpha Company, 189th Division Sustainment Support Battalion, Fort Bragg, North Carolina
- Bravo Company, 68th DSSB, Fort Carson, Colorado
- Charlie Company, 129th DSSB, Fort Campbell, Kentucky
- Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 264th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, Fort Bragg, North Carolina
- 70th Movement Control Team, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia
- 564th Quartermaster Company, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington
The thousands of new troops will join approximately 9,200 already deployed along the southern border. Those include approximately 5,000 National Guard troops sent by the state of Texas in a separate mission, as well as 4,200 soldiers and Marines deployed by the Pentagon. The roughly 1,500 troops sent to the border last month were pulled from military police and engineer units inside the Army and Marine Corps.
The military has had an ongoing deployment to the U.S.-Mexico border since 2018 during the first Trump administration. The Biden administration continued the mission. Since President Donald Trump returned to office in January, the Pentagon has been expanding the number of troops committed to dealing with watching the southern border and supporting immigration-related policies and deportation efforts. That includes units sent to support “holding operations” involving migrants at Guantanamo Bay and Coast Guard units flying migrants to border states for deportation.
Additionally, the U.S. has already stepped up increased drone surveillance flights over Mexico in recent weeks.
Update; 3/1/2025: This story has been updated with additional information following the news about the Stryker unit.
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