11-14-2018, 10:52 AM
The number of military troops deployed reported by the media is accurate, as is the estimated $200 million price tag by end of year.......assuming Trump actually sends the 15,000 troops he promised during his midterm campaigning.
That's the $$ estimate for the extra military troops and National Guard deployment to the border for fiscal year 2018, according to the official Pentagon docs posted upthread.
However, the estimate will drop if Trump instead caps the military troop deployment at around 5,600 (present status). And, the estimated cost of the full operation will obviously increase if the number of troops increases and/or the length of deployment goes beyond the end of the year.
The Pentagon predicts that about 1,400 migrants in the current caravans will make it to the U.S. border. If that bears out, the ratio of military troops to migrants will be at least 3 to 1 (and that doesn't include Border Patrol agents).
That number of migrants coming around the same time is not unmanageable without the extra military troops. In September, the latest month for which data is available, border agents arrested or denied entry to 1,685 undocumented immigrants per day on average.
That's the $$ estimate for the extra military troops and National Guard deployment to the border for fiscal year 2018, according to the official Pentagon docs posted upthread.
However, the estimate will drop if Trump instead caps the military troop deployment at around 5,600 (present status). And, the estimated cost of the full operation will obviously increase if the number of troops increases and/or the length of deployment goes beyond the end of the year.
The Pentagon predicts that about 1,400 migrants in the current caravans will make it to the U.S. border. If that bears out, the ratio of military troops to migrants will be at least 3 to 1 (and that doesn't include Border Patrol agents).
That number of migrants coming around the same time is not unmanageable without the extra military troops. In September, the latest month for which data is available, border agents arrested or denied entry to 1,685 undocumented immigrants per day on average.