WASHINGTON, DC — The Pentagon announced the Department of Defense will provide military airlift support to support the DHS in deporting detained illegal aliens. The United States Air Force will supply four aircraft to remove up to 5,000 aliens currently detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
On Wednesday, the Department of Defense ordered at least 1,500 active duty service members to be deployed to the U.S. southern border, Breitbart Texas reported. The deployment supports executive orders signed on Monday by President Donald Trump.
“A National Emergency currently exists along the southern border of the United States. Unchecked unlawful mass migration and the unimpeded flow of opiates across our borders continue to endanger the safety and security of the American people and encourage further lawlessness,” the president wrote. “Through this order, I am acting in accordance with my solemn duty to protect and defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United States along our national borders.”
In an announcement on Wednesday from the Pentagon, a senior military official said, “We anticipate that overall, on the southwest border, [active-duty personnel] will provide real-time situational awareness of persons, vehicles, vessels and aircraft; and they’ll work with [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] on operator-level maintenance, movement and staging of [CBP] assets.
Acting Secretary of Defense Robert Salesses added that the DOD would “provide airlift support for flights operated by DHS to implement the deportation of more than 5,000 individuals detained by CBP at the border sectors in San Diego and El Paso, Texas.”
The senior military official stated that USTRANSCOM will provide two C-130 Hercules and two C-17 Globemaster aircraft to assist in that support.
In addition to the airlift support, the Army is already flying border security missions onboard UH-72 Lakota helicopters in support of CBP and Border Patrol missions.
“We also anticipate that there could be some additional airborne intelligence, surveillance and support assets that would move down to the border to increase situational awareness,” the official added.
Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday morning talk show. He also serves as president of Blue Wonder Gun Care Products.
