About 10,000 U.S. military service members are now operating along the U.S.-Mexico border as part of a Trump administration surge, despite a decrease in the number of migrant crossings.
Scripps News traveled to a section of the border in Arizona with the U.S. Army to see the military's new mission within the "Joint Task Force - Southern Border."
"Their mission is to support Customs and Border Patrol in controlling the U.S. Southern Border and preserving the territorial integrity of the United States," said Lt. Col. Lukas Berg.
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In a remote section of the border, Scripps News saw a Stryker—a military personnel carrier that is usually armed and deployed to war zones. This one was not armed because it was only being tasked with observing. However, more than 100 of them are now stationed along the U.S. southern border in what appears to be a deterrent.
"That's really what we're doing with the Stryker out here. It provides us great mobility to get soldiers where they need to be to observe on the border," said Lt. Col. Travis Stellfox.
"And what have soldiers observed from the Stryker here along the border?" asked Scripps News military affairs correspondent Maya Rodriguez.
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"We've observed a wide range of activities that varies widely by station," said Stellfox. "Mostly, it's individual or small groups of illegal immigrants coming across the border - that's primarily what we've been able to observe so far."
Observation is all they've been doing at this point. Military officials told Scripps News that when they observe migrants crossing the border, they notify Border Patrol, who can then intercept them.
When asked how migrants react when they see the Stryker, Stellfox said, "We have a good portion of what we've observed is what we call 'turn backs,' migrants who are detected while crossing the border, and then, they either cease activity, or they go back across before there's any interaction."
"It's a bit more intimidating than a regular SUV that border patrol might have," Rodriguez noted.
"That's fair to say, ma'am," Stellfox replied.
The military said they are not doing any law enforcement along the southern border and are staying firmly on the U.S. side.
This comes even though military officials told Scripps News that they've seen drones — operated by Mexican drug cartels — that are observing U.S. military personnel along the border.
"We are privy to significant reporting on that. That is of significant interest to us because we're operating aircraft in the same area," said Lt. Col Berg. "We're observing, we are monitoring, and then we are passing those observations directly to Customs and Border Patrol."
U.S military leaders told Scripps News they have not engaged those cartel drones partly because they don't have the authorization yet to do so. However, they say they do have the right to self-defense, and if any of those cartel drones threatened American troops along the border, the U.S. military said it would take action.
In the meantime, when asked about a timeline for the mission, military officials said it was open-ended, with no end date currently in sight.
