BASE CAMP DONNA, Texas--The number of U.S. troops at the border with Mexico may have peaked at about 5,800, the U.S. commander of the mission told Reuters, noting he would start looking next week at whether to begin sending forces home or perhaps shifting some to new border positions.
The outlook by Lieutenant General Jeffrey Buchanan, while not definitive, suggests that the high-profile military mission could soon achieve its goal of helping harden the border ahead of the expected arrival of caravans of Central American migrants in the coming weeks.
The deployment, which critics have called a pre-election political stunt by President Donald Trump, was initially expected to reach more than 7,000 troops, acting in support of U.S. Customs and Border, or CBP. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis authorized the mission through Dec. 15, and while Buchanan did not rule out an extension, he did not think one appeared likely at this point, based on the current tasks assigned to the military.
"It is a hard date. And we have no indications that CBP is going to need us to do our work for longer than that," Buchanan said on Wednesday at Base Camp Donna in Texas, as Mattis toured the site near the Mexico border.
He acknowledged that there could be new requests, saying: "If we get an extension, we get an extension. But I’ve got no indications of that so far."
Asked whether he thought the troop levels had peaked, Buchanan said: "I do. We might increase by a hundred here or there, but probably not."
Trump's politically charged decision to send U.S. troops to the border with Mexico came ahead of U.S. congressional elections last week, as Trump sought to strengthen border security as part of a crackdown on illegal immigration. Trump's supporters, including Republicans in Congress, have embraced the deployment.
But critics say it was designed to drive Republican voters to the polls. They have scoffed at Trump's comparison of caravans of Central American migrants, including women and children, fleeing poverty and violence, to an "invasion."
