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What will the troops being sent to the US southern border even do?

Acting Secretary of Defense Robert Salesses stated that the military will provide "increased detection and monitoring efforts."

Some 1,500 U.S. troops have been ordered to the U.S. southern border by President Donald Trump. Here's a glimpse into some of the duties they'll be tasked with when they arrive. (Scripps News)

Volunteers talk in a tent along a border wall separating Mexico from the United States.

By: Joe St. George

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President Donald Trump has ordered 1,500 additional U.S. troops to the southern border, marking a 60% increase in military presence since Monday, according to the Pentagon.

The deployment is part of ongoing efforts to bolster border security and immigration control.

Previously, the Biden administration had stationed around 2,200 service members — mostly in the El Paso, Texas, area — to assist primarily with ministerial duties. But President Trump's order appears to go even further.

Acting Secretary of Defense Robert Salesses stated that the military will provide "increased detection and monitoring efforts" and support Department of Homeland Security deportation flights of more than 5,000 illegal aliens detained by Customs and Border Protection in the San Diego, California, and El Paso, Texas, sectors.

Salesses added that troops will also "begin assisting in the construction of temporary and permanent physical barriers to add additional security to curtail illegal border crossings and illicit trafficking."

Additionally, the Pentagon has hinted at more missions to come, with military personnel potentially assisting in what Salesses described as "additional missions in cooperation with DHS, federal agencies, and state partners."

But the military isn't the only group of individuals being reassigned to the southern border.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the reassignment of DEA agents, the U.S. Marshal Service, and other federal agents to immigration-related duties suggests a broadening of focus on border security, acknowledging that ICE may lack the resources to fulfill all the administration's demands.

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