WASHINGTON _ The Defense Department is deploying an additional 540 troops to the U.S. border with Mexico to keep migrants potentially infected with the coronavirus from entering the country, the head of U.S. Northern Command said Wednesday.
The additional military forces were requested by the Department of Homeland Security to help "seal off" the U.S. border from migrants who may be carrying the virus, said Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy, head of U.S. Northern Command.
"We're going to protect our nation from COVID-positive migrants," said Lt. Gen. Laura Richardson, commander of U.S. Army North, which is a component of Northern Command and responsible for the Army's homeland defense mission.
