Administration sends second destroyer to patrol southern border

The destroyer USS Spruance (DDDG 111) was ordered to patrol the waters off the West Coast to "restore territorial integrity at the U.S. southern border," according to the Navy announced. Same mission that was assigned days ago to the USS Gravely (DDDG 107), but in the Gulf of America.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile boat departed Naval Base San Diego on Saturday, where it had been stationed since December after a five-month mission in the Middle East. Both destroyers now with border control missions were involved in operations to secure commercial transit threatened by missiles from Houthi terrorists.

The deployment corresponds with an effort by the Trump Administration to militarize the border problem, deploying Armed Forces resources to the borders. On the same day of his inauguration, Donald Trump signed an executive order "clarifying" the military's role in "protecting territorial integrity." the new policy made border flow control a priority, defining illegal immigration and criminal activities such as drug trafficking as "forms of invasion."

According to the Defense Department, as of mid-March the deployment included more than 9,000 troops, including battalions with Stryker armored vehicles and Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters. As part of these efforts, the State Department's designated criminal gangs south of the border, including Mexican drug cartels and the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, as terrorist organizations.

This deployment was joined in recent weeks by the two destroyers, in charge of the Northern Command of the Naval Forces. Seen as a maritime reinforcement, both will collaborate with other agencies. Therefore, in addition to their crews, they will carry on board a Coast Guard detachment, which has among its prerogatives the interception of illegal immigrants.

"USS Spruance’s deployment as part of U.S. Northern Command’s southern border mission brings additional capability and expands the geography of unique military capabilities working with the Department of Homeland Security," said Gen. Gregory Guillot.