More than one month into their border deployment Marines from Camp Pendleton are making progress in their mission to enhance the barriers at the border.
The insides of the two fences between San Ysidro and Otay Mesa look a little different than they did two months ago. Marines from the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion and the 7th Engineering Support Battalion account for the roughly 500 troops deployed to the border in San Diego.
Rows of spiraling concertina wire are layered atop one another as far as one can see along the fences. One group of spools are strung along the bottoms of the fences and another at the top.
This is what the Marines are at the border to do, according to Lt. Col. Tyrone Barrion, the commanding officer of the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion and the Marines' commander at the border.
The troops are not there to engage with migrants, Barrion said. If they do, there's a plan in place.
"We have communication with Border Patrol directly," Barrion said. "We notify them, and we continue our work."
In San Diego, that work consists of installing concertina wire.
Barrion compared the wire to a thorn bush. He said it's not designed to injure people — just to deter them, or at least slow them down.
He said the Marines are treating the mission like any deployment, except since it's in their backyard, there are some accommodations in place. Troops have some freedom to go home to their families and get time off.
President Donald Trump ordered about 1,500 troops to the border in January, soon after taking office. It's a smaller border deployment than one he ordered during his first term in 2018.
This mission is open-ended, Barrion said. Once the Marines finish reinforcing the barriers around San Diego he said they're ready to move on to wherever the Border Patrol needs them next.
