Marines from Camp Pendleton arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego on Thursday.
It was announced last week that Marines from Pendleton would be part of the border operation, ahead of a migrant caravan slowly making its way through Mexico to the U.S. border.
Aside from setting up at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego, the Marines began laying concertina wire. They are performing some of the tasks that troops are performing in Texas and Arizona.
The marines are part of the Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force 7, which includes engineer units.
The Marines are setting up camps for themselves near the border. Military police from Fort Hood will guard those camps. They will not participate in direct law enforcement or build facilities to house detainees, said Maj. Scott McCoullough, spokesman with U.S. Army North.
There are 1,300 troops that are now slated to deploy in California. The number has grown from 1,100 troop announced last week. The Pentagon has committed over 7,000 troops ahead of a migrant caravan that is still expected to be weeks away. The Pentagon number is still less than the 15,000 troops President Donald Trump announced as he campaigned for Republican candidates during the midterm elections.
The Pentagon also announced that it is dropping the name "Operation Faithful Patriot" to describe the effort to send active duty U.S. troops to the border with Mexico.
