The Chairman of the US Military Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, has made an unannounced visit to the US Southern Border to see the progress being made to secure that area, as illegal crossings continue to plunge there.
General Caine arrived at the military headquarters of the operation at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, on Saturday. He also visited the Douglas, Arizona Border Patrol Station.
His trip follows orders given this week to US Soldiers assigned to the Joint Task Force-Southern Border (JTF-SB) to begin securing 170 square miles of New Mexico that have been designated as the New Mexico National Defense Area (NMNDA).
In addition to meeting frontline soldiers and their commanders, General Caine was briefed on border security operations, including joint operations involving the military and other federal authorities such as the Border Patrol & US Customs & Border Protection in support of homeland defense.
Sadly, the mission has not come without the loss of human lives. On April 15, 2025, two marines from California assigned to the border security mission lost their lives in a military vehicle accident during a convoy movement near Santa Teresa, New Mexico.
General Caine honored the pair (Lance Cpl. Albert A. Aguilera, 22, of Riverside, California, and Lance Cpl. Marcelino M. Gamino, 28, of Fresno, California) and a third marine who survived the accident and remains hospitalized in critical condition during his visit to the southern border. All three marines were members of the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, which is based at Camp Pendleton, California.
General Caine's fact-finding mission comes as U.S. federal Authorities are reporting a dramatic decrease in illegal crossings along the Southern Border:
The US Border Patrol reported an average of 264 daily nationwide apprehensions in March - 94% lower than the daily average in March 2024 (4,488).
Apprehensions between Southwest Border Ports of Entry at the Southwest in March decreased nearly 94% (7,181) compared to one year prior (137,743) and 95% compared to March 2023 (163,672).
Encounters of unaccompanied alien children (UACs) at the Southwest border dropped 97% last month compared to March 2021.
As of February, the number of known gotaways has plunged more than 90% since the Trump administration began.
Should the US continue its military build-up along the US Southern Border?
Share your opinion in the comments to this article.
Abrazos,
Jack Beavers
YES..OUR BORDERS. EVERY INCH. SHOULD HAVE USA MILITARY ON 24/7. FULL TIME. ALL DAY EVERY DAY. ALL NIGHT EVERY NIGHT. TEXAS GRANNY HERE…Y E S !!!
Absolutely!