Trump Admin to Deploy Coast Guard to Texas Border

Hundreds of boats and personnel will be deployed to the Rio Grande for ‘Operation River Wall’ to cut down on illegal border crossings and drug trafficking.

U.S. soldiers monitor a known border crossing point along the Rio Grande in Brownsville, Texas, on Feb. 25, 2025. Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Sveen/U.S. Army

The Trump administration announced plans Monday to mobilize the U.S. Coast Guard to secure the Rio Grande against illegal immigration and drug trafficking at the southern border in “Operation River Wall.”

Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem said hundreds of personnel and over 100 boats, shallow watercraft, tactical teams, and other assets will be deployed to eastern Texas.

The new operation will run along the Coast Guard’s Rio Grande sector and involve about 260 miles of the Rio Grande Valley.

The Coast Guard has honed “the unique capabilities and experience needed to secure this complex environment,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated.

“President [Donald] Trump delivered the most secure southern border in U.S. history in record time, and now, our goal is to make sure it stays that way for the long run,” Noem said in a statement.

“The men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard are experts at defending America’s maritime borders—they have been doing that with honor, respect, and devotion to duty since 1790.”

Acting Commandant of the Coast Guard Adm. Kevin Lunday said the operation will give the guard control over the southern border in eastern Texas.

“The U.S. Coast Guard is the best in the world at tactical boat operations and maritime interdiction at sea, along coasts, and in riverine environments,” Lunday said.

Trump’s focus on stopping illegal immigration, illegal drugs, and criminal activity at the borders has produced results, according to the latest numbers.

Since Trump took office in January, Border Patrol has recorded its lowest southwest border apprehension numbers since 1970, according to DHS.

The average number of border crossers arrested in September per day was 279, which is 95 percent lower than the average of 5,110 border crossers per day during the four years of the Biden administration, according to DHS data.

September also marked the fifth consecutive month with zero border crossers released along the southwest border, compared to 9,144 releases in September 2024.

Under President Joe Biden, an estimated 8 million migrants were encountered at the borders, according to a document issued by the U.S. House Oversight Committee in 2024.

Migrants congregate on the banks of the Rio Grande at the U.S. border with Mexico on Dec. 20, 2022, where members of the Texas National Guard cordoned off a gap in the U.S. border wall. Morgan Lee/AP Photo

Of those, 6.7 million encounters were at the southwest border.

Another 1.7 million were “gotaways” or illegal immigrants who disappeared into the United States.

The rise in known getaways, the seizure of more than 50,000 pounds of fentanyl, and a significant increase in potential terrorist apprehensions during the Biden administration were “more than just a crisis” at the southern border, according to the oversight committee.