How National Guard Soldiers are contributing to border security

President Donald Trump made the call to deploy National Guard troops to the Southern Border in March 2018.

Shortly after, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey welcomed over 200 soldiers to Arizona’s border.

Nearly 50 National Guard members were deployed to Yuma Sector Border Patrol in April.

However, many people have asked what their designated roles with border patrol have entailed.

While many have had a misconception of their roles, representatives with the National Guard said they’ve been strictly assigned to support roles.

“We’re not law enforcement,” Erin Hannigan, the lead U.S. National Guard overseeing Yuma Sector said. “We are strictly admin support. So all of my guys are inside the building, working administratively and mechanically. We’re not at the border. Our goal is to get those agents there.”

Agents belonging to Yuma Sector said President Trump’s mission to deploy thousands of National Guard troops was so agents could better secure the Southern Border.

“Additional national guardsmen allows us to have a heightened situational awareness,” Vinny Dulesky, a Yuma Sector Border Patrol agent said. “So it may be natural to see those apprehensions go down.”