Trump putting troops on border was game changer, San Diego sector chief says: 'Force multiplier'

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — U.S. military personnel sent by President Donald Trump to the southern border to assist in security operations have had a profound impact on the number of illegal crossing attempts, a veteran border agent tells Fox News Digital.

"It's a force multiplier," San Diego Sector acting Chief Patrol Agent Jeffrey Stalnaker said of the military assistance at the border in an interview with Fox News Digital. "It assists us to accomplish our mission."

At the San Diego border sector, traditionally one of the busiest crossing areas of the U.S. border with Mexico, hundreds of service members from the Army, Marines, and Navy have been deployed to assist U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents over the last several weeks.

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The deployments, which were ordered just days after President Trump took office, have helped put an almost sudden stop to the record-setting illegal crossings seen in recent years. 

The number of southern border apprehensions in February hit lows not seen since the year 2000, according to CBP data, while CBP agent encounters with illegal migrants have also fallen sharply, with the agency recording just 30,000 encounters in February, compared to the over 130,000 recorded during the same time period in 2023 and 2024.

According to Stalnaker, the military forces currently assisting at the border have had a lot to do with the recent success.

"It's not just walls and c-wire, it's also our weather roads. It gives us access, quick access, to be able to move our agents … to be able to respond to an event, a law enforcement event," he said.

The nearly 500 Marines operating at the border as part of Task Force Sapper have helped CBP by reinforcing existing border barriers with additional protection, including the welding of razor wire that has been strategically placed to slow down any potential crossings and give CBP agents time to react.

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"We are the engineers that are conducting the construction down on the southern border in order to reinforce the existing primary and secondary barrier that exists in the San Diego sector," Lt. Col Tyrone Barrion, the commanding officer of Task Force Sapper, told Fox News Digital, noting that the Marines' efforts have created an "obstacle that disrupts any type of activity that tries to cross over the top or through the barrier."

"That allows more reaction time for border patrol," he added.

Barrion said that the Marines plan on continuing their efforts from the Pacific coastline of San Diego until about 20 miles inland, where they will then tackle a break in the existing barrier caused by the area's rough terrain.

Joining the Marines are multiple companies of Army engineers and military police officers based out of Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, who have fanned out across the landscape to help with surveillance and detection. While the soldiers don't intervene to stop illegal crossings themselves, a CBP spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the troops have become the eyes and ears of agents, taking some tasks off their plate and allowing them to quickly and accurately respond to potential crossings.

On Otay Mountain, which lies southeast of San Diego and overlooks the border near the Mexican city of Tijuana, Army soldiers perched high above a popular crossing valley helped operate a CBP surveillance station that can detect the potential movements of illegal crossings for miles in the surrounding area. While CBP agents are trained and typically tasked with operating the equipment, the help of Army soldiers has allowed CBP to make more efficient use of their limited resources.

Facing limited manning, the CBP spokesperson said that the troops at the border have allowed agents to focus their attention on responding to crossers and making apprehensions, all done with the assistance of troops who are in constant contact with their CBP counterparts.

Those Army forces have contributed to the drastic turnaround at the once-busy border sector.

"They're a great partner," Stalnaker said. "We enjoy having them out here."