After being sworn into office on Monday, President Donald Trump said he would declare a national emergency at the southern border, allowing the Defense Department to deploy active-duty military troops and members of the National Guard to the region.

The administration also plans to end the policy known as “catch and release,”  which allows immigrants to enter the United States after being processed at the border and while awaiting immigration hearings in court; bring back the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which was implemented during the previous Trump administration requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico instead of the U.S. for their immigration hearings; and designate the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. 

“All illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came,” said Trump.

“We will reinstate my ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy. I will end the practice of catch and release. And I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country.”

Back in 2018, Trump deployed the National Guard to “stop the flow of deadly drugs and other contraband, gang members and other criminals, and illegal aliens into this country.”

Later that year, the Defense Department authorized over 5,000 active-duty troops to support the Department of Homeland Security and the National Guard members who were already present at the border.

Former President Joe Biden in 2023 announced he would send an additional 1,500 active-duty troops to the border to help with a potential surge of immigrants after pandemic-era health restrictions were rolled back in May 2023 as thousands of National Guard troops were already in the region. 

At the time, the Defense Department said active-duty troops were assisting the Customs and Border Protection by providing the “ground-based detection and monitoring, data entry, and warehouse support” and they were not involved in law enforcement activities.

And while there is precedent for sending troops and National Guard to the southwestern border, the details are still unclear about how many troops will be deployed to the region, and how the new administration will use the military to support Trump’s promised crackdown on immigrants.

It is also unclear how this administration will use the military to go after cartels. 

There was some support for using the military to combat drug cartels — in 2023, for example, Reps. Daniel Crenshaw, (R-Texas) and Michael Waltz, (R-Fla.) proposed legislation that would allow the military to be used against drug cartels involved in facilitating the fentanyl crisis.

In addition to the president’s plans to use troops after declaring a national emergency at the border, Trump also pledged to reinstate service members dismissed from the military for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine and provide them back pay. 

While the Defense Department allowed certain exemptions for medical conditions during a mandate that was in effect from August 2021 to January 2023, approximately 8,000 service members were discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Although the number of service members dismissed for refusing the vaccine was small, President Biden and the Defense Department faced a political backlash over having the mandate in place.

Trump also said he would sign an executive order to “stop warriors from being subjected to radical political theories and social experiments while on duty.”

“It’s going to end immediately. Our armed forces will be free to focus on their sole mission: defeating America’s enemies,” said Trump.

Copyright © 2025 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.