Defense secretary Jim Mattis says Pentagon will pay for up to 4,000 personnel as part of Trump’s order to boost border security

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The defense secretary, Jim Mattis, on Friday approved using Pentagon money to pay for as many as 4,000 national guard personnel to perform security missions on the US border with Mexico.

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Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday he wanted to send between 2,000 and 4,000 national guard troops to the border, to help fight illegal immigration and drug trafficking. That would be lower than the roughly 6,000 national guard members George W Bush sent during another border security operation.

Mattis’s decision means the federal government will foot the bill for missions performed under the command of participating states.

A defense department memo said the authorization was valid through the current budget year, which ends on 30 September. It did not indicate how much the missions are expected to cost.

The memo said national guard personnel will not perform law enforcement functions or “interact with migrants or other persons detained by” the Department of Homeland Security without the approval of Mattis. It said “arming will be limited to circumstances that might require self-defense”, but did not further define that.



The Texas state government said 250 members of the national guard were expected to deploy to the border within 72 hours. Texas already has 100 national guard troops stationed on the border.

The Arizona national guard said planners would coordinate the deployment of 150 troops. A spokesman for the governor, Doug Ducey, said he had no details on what the troops would be assigned to do. In previous deployments, Arizona troops have carried out border watch missions, supported border wall construction and helped with administrative and other support tasks.

Trump meanwhile signed a memorandum to take steps to end “catch-and-release” policies.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jim Mattis at the Pentagon. The authorization for spending will be valid through the end of September. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP

The White House said Trump signed the memo to direct his administration to study ways of ending such policies, which generally refer to the release of unauthorized immigrants while they await hearings instead of keeping them in custody.

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The Trump administration is targeting “catch-and-release” after setbacks on immigration reform in Congress, including the failure of the president’s plan to grant a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 1.8 million people in exchange for $25bn for border security and sharp cuts to legal immigration.

Trump reluctantly signed a government funding bill last month which apportioned only $1.6bn for border wall funding, none of it for building the wall Trump has repeatedly promised.

Warned by prominent supporters in the media of the danger of disappointing his base, the president spent much of the week tweeting and speaking angrily – critics said inaccurately – about immigration matters.

On Saturday, he tweeted: “We are sealing up our Southern Border. The people of our great country want Safety and Security. The [Democrats] have been a disaster on this very important issue!”