This story has been updated.
Border authorities said Friday that U.S. military personnel would be deployed to the Big Bend region of West Texas amid ongoing troop deployments across the southwestern border.
The personnel will be deployed to Border Patrol stations in Alpine, Van Horn and Presidio to “assist agents with surveillance, intelligence gathering and logistical support,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement.
The agency told Marfa Public Radio that some of the troops have already arrived in the region and others would arrive in the near future.
“The deployment of military personnel will enhance our operational effectiveness and provide valuable support to our agents in the field,” said Lloyd Easterling, Chief Patrol Agent of the Border Patrol’s Big Bend Sector.
Border Patrol Big Bend Sector spokesperson Richard Barragan told Marfa Public Radio the agency and representatives from the Department of Defense held an “operational planning meeting” Friday morning about the “pending deployment of soldiers” to the region. At least one City of Alpine employee was present, though the meeting was not open to the public or the media.
The plan comes as U.S. military personnel are being deployed across the southwestern border after President Trump signed an executive order on the matter and a related national emergency declaration during his first week in office.
So far, the Pentagon has deployed or is scheduled to deploy about 9,600 troops to the southern border, U.S. Northern Command, which is part of the Defense Department, said in a statement Tuesday. The latest round of deployed troops includes Air Force intelligence analysts and engineers from the Army and Army Corps of Engineers, NORTHCOM said.
Separately, as part of an agreement between Texas and the Trump administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has in recent weeks deputized a slew of Texas National Guard soldiers to arrest people suspected of being in the U.S. without legal status.
Twenty three guard troops were deputized earlier this month at a ceremony at the Border Patrol’s station in Alpine. Other groups of guard soldiers have been deputized for immigration enforcement in recent weeks in El Paso and Laredo as well.
The troop deployments come as the number of people crossing the southern border has plunged to its lowest level in decades, as Axios has reported.
CBP said this week that Border Patrol agents apprehended about 8,300 people suspected of crossing the border illegally in February, a 94% decrease from February 2024, when the agency apprehended around 140,600 people.
The Border Patrol’s Big Bend Sector has historically seen much lower numbers of people crossing the southern border compared to other parts of Texas and the Southwest.
CBP reported just 165 migrant encounters in the Big Bend sector in February, compared to almost 1,300 in South Texas and about 2,100 in the El Paso area the same month.
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