Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Thursday that the deployment of National Guard troops to the Mexico border is meant to buy time for the border patrol and not part of a long-term effort by the Pentagon.
The Guard troops will help the Customs and Border Protection agents during an historically busy season for people attempting to illegally cross the U.S. southern border, Mattis said during testimony to the House Armed Services Committee.
President Trump has said he will keep 2,000-4,000 troops on the border until his estimated $25 billion Mexico border wall is built, an effort that could take years if Congress continues to balk at providing funds.
Mattis said the current plan crafted by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is “sound” and lays out the details of the troop deployment
“I have read enough of it to know what I needed to do to put these … up to 4,000 down there until the 1st of October in a non-law enforcement, no contact with the migrants position to support DHS,” Mattis said.
Rep. Anthony Brown, D-Md., said he was concerned about the lack of a strategy for the border initiative, something the Pentagon and DHS pointed to as a problem in past Guard deployments to the border.
“This is a deployment that may potentially last for years given the statement of the commander in chief that their presence may be there until which time the wall is built,” Brown said.
Mattis said the initiative is an “anticipatory backing-up” so that DHS can put more border agents into the field for now.
“Right now, this is not a long-term deployment. The President says if the wall gets built, that is one thing. Secretary Nielsen says she needs this reinforcement, that is a second point,” Mattis said. “This is not a long-term strategy, this is a buying time effort.”
