Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shook hands Monday with troops at Fort Bliss for a deployment on the U.S. border with Mexico as Marines unloaded at Naval Base Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to begin work on migrant detention facilities.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the southern US border with Mexico as President Donald Trump continues to crack down on immigration.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited with U.S. troops and received an operational update at the southern border on Monday regarding the military’s efforts to secure it. Hegseth visited Fort Bliss in El Paso,

After the Department of Defense announced Wednesday that 1,500 troops would be initially assigned to the border mission, what bases and units they were coming from and what other forces could be included remained questions.

Mexico agreed to rush 10,000 national guard troops to the border to strengthen efforts to block the flow of drugs, especially fentanyl, coming into the United States.

Donald Trump on Monday held off on his tariff threats against Mexico and Canada for 30 days after the two US neighbors agreed to boost border security efforts. Trump on Saturday had directed that 25 percent tariffs on most imports from the two American partners — and 10 percent on Canadian energy products — go into effect at midnight Tuesday.