Some of the active-duty troops who President Donald Trump ordered to help secure the southern border have begun departing and thousands of them could be home by the end of the month, according to a US defense official.
CNN previously reported that the number of troops assigned to the mission would likely drop down to 4,000 as engineers involved in enhancing infrastructure at points of entry completed their tasks.
A separate Defense official says most of the troops to be drawn down will come from Texas.
A Department of Homeland Security official confirmed that some troops will be pulling back, saying it was because of the « requirements of the mission. »
Pentagon spokesman Col. Rob Manning said Monday, « Currently, there are approximately 5,200 service members deployed in support of DHS, Customs/Border Patrol along the Southwest border, and the breakdown is as such: 2,200 troops are in Texas, 1,350 troops are in Arizona, and 1,650 troops are in California. »
« You asked about when troops will be moving. Some units have completed their mission and have already started to partially redeploy. Other units have been identified to rotate home, and will be returning home over the next several weeks, » Manning added.
Trump also deployed some 2,300 National Guard troops to the border as part of an earlier mission. They are scheduled to be there until at least September 2019.
Active-duty troops on the border peaked at about 5,800.
The Associated Press was first to report the drawdown.
The imminent drawdown comes as Trump has publicly weighed having the military construct his sought-after wall along the southern border.
On Tuesday, the President tweeted that the military could build it, should Congress not provide adequate funding.
Later on Tuesday, he clashed publicly with Democratic leaders Rep.
