US Defense Secretary James Mattis has authorized the use of troops and other military resources at the US-Mexico border, after President Donald Trump ordered the US military to prevent a caravan of thousands of migrants from Central America from entering the US.
US officials said on Friday that Mattis’ authorization was not itself a “deployment order” and did not include a specific number of troops, something that would be determined at a later point.
The US Defense Department did not comment on potential troop numbers, which US officials say could be at least 800 active-duty soldiers and begin deploying as soon as Tuesday.
The Pentagon said Mattis had authorized the military to provide “mission-enhancing capabilities” to US Customs and Border Protection, including engineering support to help build temporary barriers and housing.
One US military official told Reuters that some of the troops would assist with traffic and crowd control on the…