Latest news with #JointTaskForceSouthernBorder
Fox News
18-04-2025
- Fox News
Two Marines — both in their 20s — identified as service members killed in fatal accident
The two service members who passed away due to a crash near Santa Teresa, New Mexico earlier this week were 22-year-old Lance Cpl. Albert A. Aguilera of Riverside, California and 28-year-old Lance Cpl. Marcelino M. Gamino of Fresno, California, according to the 1st Marine Division "Officials with 1st Marine Division identified the two Marines who were killed after a vehicle accident April 15 while supporting Joint Task Force Southern Border operations," a press release states. "The crash occurred during a convoy movement near Santa Teresa, New Mexico." Both men were combat engineers, according to the April 17 press release, which also noted that another Marine was in critical condition and undergoing treatment. "The three Marines were transported to University Medical Hospital, El Paso, Texas, where Aguilar and Gamino were pronounced dead," the release indicated. "The incident is under investigation." The injured service member is with the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, as were the two Marines who passed away, the 1st Marine Division reported. "The loss of Lance Cpl. Aguilera and Lance Cpl. Gamino is deeply felt by all of us," 1st Combat Engineer Battalion and Task Force Sapper commanding officer U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Tyrone A. Barrion noted, according to the press release. "I extend my heartfelt condolences and prayers to the families of our fallen brothers. Our top priority right now is to ensure that their families, and the Marines affected by their passing, are fully supported during this difficult time." Fox News Digital reached out to the 1st Marine Division on Friday but did not receive a response by the time of publication. Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth commented on the tragic deaths of the two service members earlier this week. "I am very saddened to learn of the tragic accident yesterday that took the lives of two of our nation's heroes and seriously injured another. My heartfelt condolences and prayers are with them, their families, and the unit," Hegseth noted in a Wednesday post on X.
Boston Globe
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Two US troops deployed for border mission killed in vehicle rollover
Advertisement 'My heartfelt condolences and prayers are with them, their families, and the unit,' Hegseth wrote. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Sean Parnell, a spokesperson for Hegseth, could not be reached for comment. Neither could authorities in Doña Ana County, where the accident occurred. Joint Task Force Southern Border, which oversees the military's border mission from Fort Huachuca in Arizona, said in its statement that the identities of the deceased service members were being withheld until their families were notified. The accident occurred as thousands of active-duty US troops fan out from the Pacific Ocean to Texas as Trump seeks to seal the southern border to illegal crossings. While the Marines have primarily been concentrated in California, those involved Tuesday were assigned on a reconnaissance mission, as the Defense Department seeks to improve its understanding of the region, one of the defense officials said. Advertisement The Trump administration has signaled it intends to give the US military an even larger role at the southern border. On Tuesday, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum traveled to New Mexico to transfer control of about 110,000 acres of federally controlled land to the Defense Department, allowing the US military to take a more active role in aiding law enforcement responsible for detaining illegal crossers. The plan to do so was first reported by The Washington Post last month and approved by Trump last week, effectively turning a 60-foot-wide strip of land along the border, known as the Roosevelt Reservation, into a satellite military installation. Hegseth has enthusiastically embraced Trump's focus on the US-Mexico frontier, saying that after years of combat deployments overseas, it is time for the United States to protect its own boundaries. In February, he posted on social media that the administration is 'dead serious about 100% OPERATIONAL CONTROL of the southern border.'
The Hill
16-04-2025
- The Hill
Two service members killed in accident at US-Mexico border
Two U.S. service members were killed and a third is in 'serious condition' after being involved in a vehicle accident near the U.S.-Mexico border, the military said in a release on Tuesday night. The accident happened at around 8:50 a.m. local time Tuesday near Santa Teresa, N.M., the Joint Task Force Southern Border said. The cause of the accident is under investigation. The military did not release the names of the individuals involved. The military's Northern Command said the three service members were deployed to back the Joint Task Force Southern Border, which assumed control of the southern border mission on March 14. The members of the military were deployed in the area after President Trump's executive order 'Protecting the American People Against Invasion.' In early March, the Pentagon said it would send more than 5,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. Stryker brigade combat team and a general support aviation battalion were dispatched, the Defense Department said at the time. The accident occurred near the Santa Teresa Border Patrol Station on Highway 9 at mile marker 115, KTSM reported. The three service members involved in the crash were Marines, The New York Times reported, citing a U.S. military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The Hill has reached out to the Marines for comment.
CNN
16-04-2025
- CNN
Two US service members assigned to southern border task force killed in vehicle accident
Two US service members were killed after their vehicle was involved in an accident Tuesday morning near the southern US border, the military said in a statement. The service members were 'deployed in support of Joint Task Force Southern Border,' US Northern Command said in the statement. A third service member is in serious condition at a local hospital, the military said. The cause of the accident, which occurred near the border town of Santa Teresa, New Mexico, is under investigation, the task force said in the statement. The military is withholding the names of the service members until the next of kin is notified. The Joint Task Force Southern Border – announced last month – was created 'to tactically synchronize the Department of Defense efforts to secure and seal the southern border,' according to a press release from USNORTHCOM. President Donald Trump mandated that the US military step up its presence along the southern border on his first day in office. Thousands of additional troops have been deployed to the border in recent months as part of his efforts to 'seal' the border to migrants. CNN recently reported that Trump sent a memorandum to four federal department heads last week, instructing them to allow the military to use and take jurisdiction of federal land along the US-Mexico border.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US Army Stryker armored fleet rolls into El Paso, West Texas to boost border security
U.S. Army Stryker armored vehicles began rolling to locations along the Mexican border in El Paso and the Big Bend regions of West Texas, the military's Joint Task Force Southern Border said. The M1126 armored infantry transport vehicles were deployed Wednesday, March 26, as part of President Donald Trump's order to deploy military forces to the border to support U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The deployment of armored vehicles comes as illegal border crossings have dropped drastically. Local community concerns have risen about the dehumanization of migrants and an increased militarization of the border, criticized as costly, unnecessary, and political theater. Last month, Mexico deployed 10,000 troops to Juárez and other cities along the U.S. border in an effort to crackdown on drug trafficking named Operación Frontera Norte (Operation Northern Border). More: Trump administration creating plan to militarize New Mexico border The Stryker is an eight-wheeled vehicle that can carry up to 11 people, according to the U.S. Army. The number of vehicles deployed was not disclosed. Strykers, military tactical vehicles and advanced optical sensors will give soldiers greater capability and mobility that will enhance patrols in vehicles and on foot to "detect, track, and monitor suspected illegal activity" in support of the U.S. Border Patrol, Joint Task Force Southern Border said in a new release. More: 'Thug mode.' US Army soldiers plead guilty to migrant smuggling in West Texas border chase Joint Task Force Southern Border added that CBP and Border Patrol agents will conduct any necessary law enforcement activity. The border deployment includes about 2,400 soldiers from the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat team, 4th Infantry Division from Fort Carson, Colorado, Task and Purpose reported. The infantry soldiers arrived at Fort Bliss earlier this month. On March 20, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the U.S. military to support border law enforcement with mobile ground-based monitoring, the task force stated. The goal is "to control every inch of the Southern border," Hegseth said in a February visit to the border in El Paso and neighboring Sunland Park, New Mexico, accompanied by Border Czar Tom Homan. "Everything is on the table when it comes to securing the border and dealing with cartels," Hegseth said. There were 2,110 migrant encounters in February compared with 23,919 that same month a year ago in the Border Patrol's El Paso sector, which covers westernmost Texas and all of New Mexico, according to CBP data. The city of El Paso's border emergency declaration expired in February. It was first issued by former Mayor Oscar Leeser as a form to obtain federal funding and support during the humanitarian migrant crisis in December 2022. Since 2021, Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers have been patrolling behind miles of new razor-wire barriers, part of Gov. Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star, to deter migrants from reaching the U.S. border to seek asylum or other immigration relief. Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@ and @BorundaDaniel on X. This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: US Army Stryker armored vehicles deploy along US border in West Texas
