US extends troop deployment

The Pentagon said Monday it would extend until September 30 the deployment of active-duty soldiers and Coast Guard members at the US-Mexico border, while expanding the mission to include surveillance and detection.

Lengthening the troops' mission past a January 31 deadline, the Pentagon said it was "transitioning its support at the southwestern border from hardening ports of entry to mobile surveillance and detection, as well as concertina wire emplacement between ports of entry."

"DoD will continue to provide aviation support," the statement added, referring to the Department of Defense.

The Pentagon already has about 2,350 active-duty troops stationed along the boundary, deployed under a controversial order President Donald Trump gave last year before midterm elections in November as several thousand Central American migrants made their way to the border to seek asylum from violence and poverty in their own countries.

Critics decried Trump's order as a costly political stunt to galvanize supporters ahead of the vote, in which his Republicans lost control of the House of Representatives.

Trump spoke of a "national emergency" and an "invasion" -- initially suggesting US troops could shoot migrants if they threw stones at the US border.

Trump is unwavering in his demand for a border barrier to prevent illegal migrants and drugs, which has triggered a major impasse with legislators and a partial government shutdown that is entering its fourth week.