US Army Stryker armored vehicles roll into El Paso, West Texas to boost border security

• U.S. Army armored vehicles are deployed for border security efforts.
• The Stryker vehicles are part of the Trump administration's border security plans.
• Mexico has also deployed troops to fight drug trafficking along the U.S. border.

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).

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.

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@elpasotimes.com and @BorundaDaniel on X.