The Pentagon announced over the weekend that a Navy warship will join the effort to secure the United States’ southern border, an unusual move.
According to the Pentagon, the USS Gravely, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer that was most recently deployed to the Middle East, departed Virginia on Saturday for its new mission of operating in US and international waters.
A specialised Coast Guard maritime policing team known as a Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) will board the ship.
“Gravely’s sea-going capacity improves our ability to protect the United States’ territorial integrity, sovereignty, and security,” Northern Command leader Gen. Gregory Guillot said in a statement.
Shortly after taking office in January, President Trump declared a national emergency on the border and issued a series of executive orders to strengthen border security.
“As commander in chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions, and that is exactly what I am going to do,” Trump said when he was inaugurated.
Thousands of active-duty troops have been deployed, but the use of a guided missile-destroying ship is unprecedented.
Adm. Daryl Caudle of Naval Forces Northern Command stated that the deployment “marks a vital enhancement to our nation’s border security framework.”
“In collaboration with our interagency partners, Gravely strengthens our maritime presence and exemplifies the Navy’s commitment to national security and safeguarding our territorial integrity with professionalism and resolve,” according to a press release.
The Gravely, measuring 509 feet, is larger than the Coast Guard’s vessels and armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles. It returned to the United States in July following a nine-month deployment to defend against Houthi attacks on shipping activity in the Red Sea.
In early February, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth travelled to Texas with White House border czar Tom Homan to survey the border and highlight the military’s role in combating illegal immigration.
“Any assets necessary at the Defence Department to support the expulsion and detention of those in the country illegally are on the table,” he told reporters while on vacation.
