The US states of Texas and Arizona on Friday announced plans to send troops to the southern border with Mexico.
The announcement came after US President Donald Trump said he wants to send up to 4,000 National Guard members to secure the border with Mexico, until his proposed border wall is built, in order to combat drug trafficking and illegal immigration.
A Guard spokesman said 250 personnel would be sent to patrol the area within the next 72 hours, while Arizona is also planning to deploy 150 troops there next week.
"The Texas national guard is preparing to immediately deploy with supporting aircraft, vehicles and equipment to the Texas-Mexico Border," Brigadier General Tracy Norris, the commanding general of the Texas National Guard, told reporters at a briefing, AFP reported.
"This deployment has begun with the movement of equipment and troops today. Within 72 hours the Texas military department will have 250 personnel along with ground surveillance vehicles as well as light and medium aviation platforms," she added.
US Defence Secretary James Mattis has approved funding for up to 4,000 National Guard troops from the Pentagon budget until the end of September, the Associated Press reported.
Also, Trump warned Mexico, saying the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) was at risk unless it stopped the movement of migrants over the border.
"Mexico is doing very little, if not NOTHING, at stopping people from flowing into Mexico through their Southern Border," he tweeted.
According to the BBC, last month the Pentagon confirmed Trump had held "initial" talks with his defence secretary about using some of the Pentagon's budget to build a wall, however, Democratic senators Dick Durbin and Jack Reed informed the defence secretary that his department had "no legal authority" to use its funds for such a purpose.
"Such a controversial move could only be funded by cutting other vital priorities for our service members," they wrote.
