Sean Parnell Provides An Update On Military Activity To Help Secure The Southern Border

At a Pentagon press briefing on Wednesday, Spokesperson Sean Parnell spoke about the military's involvement with the southern border.

Transcript

00:00Okay, let's transition to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security and our partnership with them.

00:07The Department continues its important work in securing our borders and supporting the

00:10Department of Homeland Security. Approximately 8,500 military personnel assigned to Joint

00:17Task Force Southern Border continue to enhance U.S. Customs and Border Patrol's capacity to identify,

00:23track, and disrupt threats to border security. Since the Secretary authorized enhanced detection

00:31and monitoring on March 20th, Joint Task Force Southern Border has conducted more than 3,500

00:37patrols, including more than 150 trilateral patrols with CBP and the Mexican military.

00:45The strong partnership and coordinated efforts between the Department of Defense and Customs and

00:50Border Patrol yielded exceptional results between June 28th and June 30th with zero

00:57gotaways across the entire southern border during that time frame. We have made incredible progress

01:05and will continue to work towards achieving 100% operational control of the border. And recently,

01:12Secretary Hegseth directed the secretaries of the Air Force and the Navy to take necessary action to

01:19establish national defense areas along the U.S.-Mexico border. The South Texas NDA, administered by the

01:27Department of the Air Force, will include federal property on and along 250 river miles of the Rio Grande

01:35River. The Yuma NDA, administered by the Department of the Navy, will include approximately 140 miles of

01:44federal property along the U.S.-Mexico border near the Barry M. Goldwater range in Arizona. These will be

01:51the third and the fourth designated national defense areas along the border and will continue to enhance

01:57the Department's ability to protect the southern border from unlawful entry. The National Guard is also

02:04playing an essential role in protecting the U.S. southern border from illegal entry and maintaining the

02:09sovereignty, the territorial integrity, and the security of the United States. Over 4,200 Texas

02:16National Guard soldiers and airmen on state active duty continue to support Operation Lone Star and

02:23nearly 70 Florida National Guard members are on state active duty as well. They're conducting base camp

02:28security at Alligator Alcatraz. In the greater Los Angeles area, approximately 5,000 military personnel

02:36assigned to Task Force 51 continue the important mission to protect federal functions, personnel, and

02:42property in that area. These federalized California National Guard and U.S. Marines have supported more than

02:48170 missions in over 130 separate locations from nine federal agencies, including the Drug

02:57Enforcement Agency, U.S. Marshal Service, ICE, and the Department of Homeland Security.