Pentagon Deploys Warship From Houthi Battles to Southern Border Under Trump Directive

Over the weekend, a U.S. Navy Destroyer was sent to the Southern Border to assist the Trump Administration’s maritime efforts to stop illegal migration as well as drug smuggling.

USS Gravely is an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer that left Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, Virginia, on a planned deployment to the U.S. Mexico border to implement President Donald Trump’s Southern Border Executive Orders, Navy officials announced in a Saturday statement.

The U.S. Northern Command’s Gen. Gregory Guillot said that the seagoing capability of USS Gravely will improve our ability to defend territorial integrity, security, and sovereignty in the United States.

Air Force Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich is the director of operations for the Joint Staff. He told journalists Monday that USS Gravely would be heading to the Gulf of America in order to conduct missions at sea to intercept drug traffickers.

Navy officials stated that the deployment highlights the Pentagon’s commitment to combating maritime-related terrorism, weapons proliferation, transnational crimes, piracy, and environmental destruction.

Officials said that USS Gravely will support the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection by enhancing “maritime operations” and filling “critical capability gaps”.

Guillot stated, “This is a significant step in efforts by the entire government to seal the Southern border and preserve U.S. sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Sean Parnell, the Pentagon chief spokesperson, told reporters on Monday that it was not enough for the United States to control its border by land alone. It’s also important to control our territorial waters. This deployment supports the mission of the U.S. Northern Command to protect our sovereignty.

In an interview, a Coast Guard Captain said earlier in the month that the Trump Administration’s increased border security had led to a rise of 200 boat-to-boat encounters along the San Diego coastline over the past 90 days.

“They’re locking down the land border pretty good… where they used to get thousands a day. Now, they’re down in the hundreds a day,” Coast Guard District 11 Capt. Jason Hagen said. “So, the migrants have to go somewhere. The smugglers have to move their operations somewhere. And we’re starting to see an uptick in the maritime environment.”

Hagen stated that foreigners from U.S. enemy countries are among those who have been found aboard the migrant boat.

“We’re starting to see an uptick in other nationalities, as well, which is a… national security concern because it’s not just your economic Mexicans looking to come to the United States for work,” Hagen said. “It’s also… bad actors coming from other countries. We’ve seen nationalities include Chinese, Russian, Uzbekistan[i], and Pakistan[i]. It’s all over the place.”