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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Thomas D. Homan, President Trump’s border czar, toured areas near Mexico.
By Reyes Mata III and Eric Schmitt
Reyes Mata III reported from the southwestern U.S. border, and Eric Schmitt from Washington.
Feb. 3, 2025, 8:16 p.m. ET
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed during a visit to the southwestern border on Monday to use thousands of U.S. active-duty troops to help stem migrant crossings, a top priority for President Trump.
Mr. Hegseth and Thomas D. Homan, Mr. Trump’s border czar, toured El Paso by air Monday morning in a line of Army Black Hawk helicopters, landing near a section of border wall. They then drove to a remote desert hilltop where soldiers, Border Patrol agents and reporters gathered for a news conference.
“The charge that the president has given us,” Mr. Hegseth said, is “to get 100 percent operational control of the southern border.”
“That means setting the right policy, which we’re doing, having the right procedure in place, the right personnel and, ultimately, the platforms and systems to maintain it.”
Motioning to the Army troops gathered nearby, he added, “They’re motivated to be here because they’re defending their friends, their family, their communities, their church, their schools, their loved ones, from an invasion of people whose intentions we don’t know.”
About 1,600 Marines and Army soldiers have been rushed to the U.S. border in California and Texas in the past two weeks to help build barriers and help law enforcement authorities, joining 2,500 Army forces already there.
