500 Camp Pendleton Marines sent to support border security in Yuma area

About 500 Marines from Camp Pendleton are deploying to Yuma, Ariz., to support security along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the Marines.

“Their mission is to improve security through activities such as reinforcing barriers, placing signs, and monitoring and detection,” the base said.

Such deployments have been common over the past year under President Donald Trump.

The base noted that military personnel are not authorized to conduct civilian law enforcement activities such as search, seizure or arrests.

Officials added that the majority of the deploying personnel are from the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, based at Camp Pendleton. They are augmented by Marines from various other units across I MEF and II MEF.

To maintain operational security, the Marines declined to say when the Pendleton Marines will be at work in and around Yuma.

Some swaths of land along the Arizona border, including near Yuma, have been designated as a National Defense Area as part of Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. The designation allows troops to detain people suspected of trespassing onto a military base and turn them over to federal law enforcement. People who are arrested can face federal trespass charges.

The newest militarized border zone is in Imperial County and the eastern parts of San Diego County, the Trump administration announced this month.