On Friday, it was announced the Department of Homeland Security has asked the Department of Defense to extend the deployment of troops on the U.S.-Mexico border past December. The deployment was slated to end on December 15.
"Given the ongoing threat at our Southern border – today the Department of Homeland Security submitted a request for assistance to the Department of Defense to extend its support through January 31, 2019," DHS said in a statement.
“Today, DHS submitted a request for assistance to the Department of Defense to extend its support through January 31, 2019,” the DOD’s statement read. “This request refines support to ensure it remains aligned with the current threat, the nature of the mission, and CBP operational requirements.”
The request for the deployment to be extended comes almost a week after migrants, that are apart of the much-covered caravan, tried to rush into the U.S. and had to be repelled by tear gas. The migrants also threw rocks at the border agents.
Rodney Scott, chief patrol agent for the San Diego Sector Border Patrol, revealed to CNN they had arrested 42 migrants after they successfully crossed the U.S. border illegally.
When asked about a potential extension the day before Thanksgiving, Secretary of Defense James Mattis said the reinforcing of ports of entries had been mostly completed.
“We'll react to the Department of Homeland Security if they ask for it,” he told reporters. “Right now we're...we're working with them on the staffs. It comes down to logistics issues right now primarily...how many miles of wire do they need, how much they defined.”