Pentagon to send Fort Liberty troops to US-Mexico border to support crackdown on illegal immigration

WASHINGTON (WTVD) -- The Pentagon will deploy roughly 1,500 more active duty soldiers to the southern border to support President Donald Trump's expanding crackdown on illegal immigration, a U.S. official said Friday.

That would eventually bring the total to about 3,600 active-duty troops at the border.

The order has been approved, the official said, to send a logistics brigade from the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Liberty. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the deployment has not yet been publicly announced.

The Pentagon has been scrambling to put in motion Trump's executive orders signed shortly after he took office on Jan. 20. The first group of 1,600 active duty troops has already deployed to the border, and close to 500 more soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division are expected to begin moving in the coming days.

Army Veteran Phil Provencher from Fayetteville said local troops have an important job ahead of them.

"Given the various threats that are reported coming through the border, it's potentially caused or is causing a crisis," Provencher said.

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Troops going to the border are expected to help put in place concertina wire barriers and provide needed transportation, intelligence, and other support to the Border Patrol. The logistics brigade will help support and sustain the troops.

At the VFW Hall in Fayetteville on Friday, some who served overseas said they believe the situation at the border justifies the deployment.

"You know, I've never seen nothing like this. I'm going on 86 years old and I've never seen it this bad," said veteran Tom Gilbert of the problems at the southern border.

Others felt uneasy. NC Field, which supports farm workers and immigrant communities in North Carolina, said that along with the threat of mass deportations, escalating the use of the military will only make a tense situation worse.

"If you bleed, you should be safe, safe from our military, safe from our law enforcement safe from immigration enforcement," said Melissa Castilli with NC Field.

Now, as soldiers from Liberty prepare to strengthen the southern border, some are hoping for a solution for those already here illegally.

"Maybe we can help you work something out where you can stay and earn your citizenship. I think that's fair," said Wendell Troy, of Fayetteville.

About 500 Marines also have been told to go to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where some of the detained migrants will be held. Several hundred of them have already arrived there.

Troops going to Guantanamo are helping to prepare the facility for an influx of migrants and do other support duties.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.