The military has shifted 160 Army troops already deployed to the southern border region to entry points at San Ysidro, California, and El Paso, Texas, to bolster security following a spike in illegal crossings, the Pentagon announced Friday.

H/T: Military.com

The move is meant to bolster security at the border after a crowd began assembling at an El Paso crossing last Friday in response to a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that temporarily struck down the program known as ‘Remain in Mexico,’ which requires asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while they wait for their case to be adjudicated.

“The service members are from the 687th Engineer Construction Company and the 519th Military Police Battalion. Both units are from Ft. Polk, La.,” the Department of Defense said. “Additionally, the Governor of Texas has ordered the Texas National Guard to deploy a team of Soldiers from the 136th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade (MEB) to the Brownsville, Texas area to conduct quick reaction force training in support of CBP.”

“The U.S. government says it is sending 160 military police and engineers to two official border crossings to deal with asylum seekers in case a federal appeals court strikes down one of the Trump administration’s key policies.” https://t.co/QyQ26iEJHJ — blmohr (@blmohr) March 7, 2020

About 160 military police and engineers will be sent to border crossings in San Diego and El Paso this weekend, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.​​ https://t.co/XI1HfJzp6l — FOX 13 News Utah (@fox13) March 7, 2020