The Pentagon on Tuesday appeared to backtrack and said it has no timeline for pulling the 5,800 active-duty troops from their mission at the U.S.-Mexico border, despite public comments this week by a three-star general.
Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, who oversees the mission, told Politico that some troops could begin coming home this week as Thanksgiving approaches and all will be back to their regular duty assignments by Christmas. The border support deployment ordered by President Trump is scheduled to officially end on Dec. 15.
But U.S. Army North, which Buchanan commands, issued a statement Tuesday morning casting some doubt on the comments.
“We may shift some forces to other areas of the border to engineering support missions in California and other areas. No specific timeline for redeployment has been determined,” the command said in the statement.
The active-duty troops were deployed by Trump just before the midterm elections to secure the border against what the president called an “invasion” by thousands of Central American migrants who have marched north to seek asylum in the U.S.
Buchanan’s reported comments come as the Department of Homeland Security closed down a main border crossing in California as some of the migrants arrived. Critics blamed Trump for using the active-duty military as a stunt to raise Republican voter turnout.
“We are continually assessing our resources and refining requirements in close coordination with DHS,” U.S. Army North said in the statement.
