The National Guard is set to fly drones, clear vegetation, and maintain roads at the border - but they won't be arresting migrants
- National Guard troops have already begun arriving at the US-Mexico border.
- They're set to provide aerial support, help with surveillance systems, and maintain infrastructure projects, the Pentagon said.
- Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona have agreed to send nearly 1,600 members to the border. California has not said whether they will send any.
- The troops deployed will not be arresting or deporting immigrants, the Pentagon said.
President Donald Trump's deployed National Guard troops have already begun arriving at the US-Mexico border - and they'll mostly be providing aerial support and helping with surveillance and infrastructure projects, the Pentagon said Monday.
But the troops are explicitly barred from helping arrest or deport immigrants, as the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 limits the military's ability to enforce civilian law without authorization.
The troops are set to use drones and light-, medium-, and heavy-lift helicopters during their deployment, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Jamie Davis told The Washington Post in a statement. They'll also assist with surveillance systems such as cameras and blimps.
Beyond that, the troops will be doing maintenance work on roads and facilities, as well as clearing vegetation, Davis said. He did not clarify whether those infrastructure tasks would include border wall construction.
The Department of Defense confirmed in a statement last week that the troops won't conduct law-enforcement activities or interact with migrants or detainees without approval from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
"National Guard personnel will only be armed for their own self-protection to the extent required by the circumstances of the mission they are performing," he said.
It's still unclear exactly how many troops will be deployed to the border - though Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico have so far committed nearly 1,600 members altogether. Trump said last Thursday he hoped the states' governors would authorize "anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000."
The only border state that hasn't yet responded to the Trump administration's request is California, whose Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown has been a vehement critic of Trump and his anti-immigration agenda.
It's also unclear what the deployments will cost and how long they'll last, though Mattis has already authorized a payment that would cover the cost of up to 4,000 National Guard members through September 30.
Trump's demand to have the National Guard deployed along the border came after a days-long tirade against a "caravan" of hundreds of central American migrants traveling through Mexico. Some of those migrants intended to seek asylum in the United States or enter illegally.
Though the caravan has mostly dispersed, organizers said Monday that roughly 200 migrants still intend to claim asylum in the US.