An additional 1,500 active-duty troops sent by U.S. President Donald Trump to the southern border began arriving Thursday morning.

The Pentagon confirmed that the 1,000 Army soldiers and 500 Marines deployed this time include members of the military police force, combat engineers and intelligence experts to assist in the detection and monitoring of illegal border crossings.

These additional troops will join the approximately 2,500 troops currently stationed at the border to help build border protection facilities and provide air support for deportation operations.

Defense Department officials said the troops would be responsible for carrying out deportation missions and airlifting the 5,400 immigrants currently detained.

In addition to the additional 1,500 personnel, air crews and maintenance teams performing eviction missions will also be put into action. According to sources, four C-17 and C-130 military transport aircraft have been transferred to El Paso, Texas and San Diego, California this week.

The arrests and deportations officially began on Tuesday. Trump's Border Commissioner Tom Homan confirmed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 308 illegal immigrants during the first full working day of the new administration. Trump plans to eventually deploy 10,000 active-duty troops to the border.

The first reinforcements arrived on Thursday, joining immigration officials, local law enforcement and the National Guard, which has long been stationed at the border. "This is just the beginning and we expect many more missions to come," a senior Defense Department official said.

In the first hours of his second term in the White House, Trump declared a national emergency at the border and asked the troops to achieve "full operational control" of the border. Acting Defense Secretary Robert G. Salesses said of the expulsions that the Department of Homeland Security will be responsible for flight enforcement, while the State Department will handle matters related to diplomatic clearances.

It is unclear where these illegal immigrants will be sent, but after Trump was re-elected in 2024, his team has started negotiating with third - party countries, attempting to get these countries to accept the millions of illegal immigrants who are planned to be deported. "This is just the beginning," Salesses said, adding: "DoD will quickly develop and execute additional missions, working with DHS, federal agencies and state partners to address the border threats raised by the president."

Marines sent to the border have been assisting with forest fires in California. Over the weekend, as the fires were further brought under control, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) relieved their disaster relief mission, allowing them to shift to responding to the crisis at the border.

In addition to border areas, sanctuary cities have also been targeted. The Trump administration has begun arresting violent undocumented immigrants in sanctuary cities across the country, including a suspected Haitian gang leader and a murder and rape suspect in Boston.

An emotional Haitian man with multiple criminal records was arrested during an ICE operation in Boston, shouting: "Fuck Trump, long live Biden!"

The man, whose name has not been released, has 17 recent criminal convictions. As he was being escorted into a police car, he said: "I will not go back to Haiti." He even added to the media: "Thank you Obama for everything, brother!"

ICE officials in Boston also confirmed that they arrested multiple MS-13 gang members during the operation. Patricia H. Hyde, ERO Boston acting Field Office Director, told Fox News: "Today is a good day. We removed several individuals from the community who were serious threats to public safety. Unfortunately, many people have been released due to asylum policies. But We want to send a message to the country that whether they are released or not, we will find them."

During the operation, ICE also arrested an undocumented immigrant. Border Commissioner Tom Homan previously warned that incidental arrests were part of a mass deportation campaign. "When we capture a target, there are likely to be others who are in the United States illegally," he said. "Even if they are not the primary criminal target, we will not ignore them."

Vice President J D. Vance commented on the matter on the X platform: "An illegal immigrant with 17 criminal records hates Trump because he wants to send him back to Haiti, but thanks Biden for letting him enter the United States. I'm glad we are expelling him. Do you agree? Or do you want him to be your neighbor?"

Meanwhile, while Boston is launching an ICE operation, Denver, another Democratic-led sanctuary city, announced it would cooperate with the Trump administration's plan to deal with undocumented immigrants.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said the city will cooperate with ICE when it comes to violent crime suspects. "The laws are consistent across the state on this, and the practices are the same in some aspects, such as we will not accept ICE detainer requests," he told FOX31.

"If ICE calls and asks us to 'detain someone for three more days,' we won't comply, which is the case in Douglas County, Yuma, and Denver. These practices are generally consistent across the state, but our policy seeks a common sense balance to ensure that local police don't work for federal law enforcement - that's not our responsibility, and we won't do it for ICE. But if ICE asks us for information about certain detainees, we will tell them when they will be released."

"This is a full-scale mobilization and agents are using every resource available to them," John Fabricato, former director of immigration enforcement in Colorado, told the Daily Mail.

Trump's border commissioner, Tom Homan, confirmed Tuesday afternoon that the deportations had begun but did not disclose where they would be carried out. He added: "These cases have been prepared for a long time. Agents have conducted surveillance, compiled detailed case records, and now they are working on cases that were previously restricted from execution."

Fabricato further explained that the Biden administration had placed limits on agents’ arrests. "The Biden administration has policy priorities that limit you, like you can't arrest people for DUI, you can't arrest basic drug possession," he said. "Those priorities limit the pursuit of criminals."

He also emphasized that in addition to arresting criminals, illegal immigrants who have received final deportation orders from immigration judges will also face arrest even if they have no criminal record. These operations are not "large-scale raids" or random searches for anyone staying illegally. Instead, it's called "targeted enforcement," meaning agents have investigated the individuals' backgrounds in advance and made clear the reasons for their arrest.

Some protested as President Trump on Tuesday authorized federal immigration agents to target schools and churches, rescinding a policy that banned arrests in "sensitive" areas.

According to reports, due to rumors from some immigrant communities that ICE will conduct law enforcement activities, the normally busy streets in the Greater Chicago area, especially in the Hispanic-concentrated Little Village and Pilsen districts, have been quiet since Tuesday (January 21st).

Some media are also openly telling illegal immigrants how to hide from ICE raids, which has also triggered heated discussions among the public.

In fact, deportations across the United States have not yet begun on a large scale. Those illegal immigrants who have committed crimes will soon wait for more widespread arrests.