Along the border in the Big Bend area of Texas – a vast expanse of desert shrub, imposing mountains, and wide-open spaces – Army 1st Sgt. Ruben Gaeta overlooks a narrow strip of the Rio Grande.
"A little bit down the river, they call it the fishing spot," said Gaeta, who oversees the troops that have been deployed to Presidio, Texas. "It's one of the hot spots traditionally."
The fishing spot, Gaeta says, is where Border Patrol agents watch for people attempting to cross the border.
Just behind him, a Stryker scans the horizon, the roar of the armored combat vehicle filling what's typically a quiet scene along the border here. The nearly 20-ton vehicle has been used in Iraq and Afghanistan. It sits on eight wheels, can carry 11 soldiers, and reaches speeds up to 60 miles per hour. The ones dispatched to the border are equipped with high-powered camera systems.
"It's got really good capabilities to zoom in really far," said Gaeta. "You can see really small objects really far out."
The Army says roughly 100 Strykers are spread across the border as part of the deployment, playing a critical role in its effort to assist Border Patrol agents.
The Trump Administration also has designated roughly 230 miles of the border as a military zone, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says troops now have more authority.
"If you see guys in camouflage now, with binoculars or in Stryker vehicles with rifles, they have the authority to detain illegals temporarily and assist Border Patrol and hand them over," Hegseth said in a May 9 Department of Defense video. "We're taking this seriously, and we're going to get 100 percent operational control of the border."
But reaching "operational control" of the border doesn't require such a large, heavily-armored deployment, said Jennifer Kavanagh, the director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, a Washington D.C. think tank.
While Kavanagh said she's not against using the military to protect the country's borders, she says in this case, the "threat" isn't there.
"It's not clear, objectively, that the number of people trying to cross the border right now exceeds the capacity of the law enforcement presence in the border states," said Kavanagh. "And the Stryker vehicles aren't armed, so it is about appearance. It's not necessarily about deploying their capabilities. It's about the visual of having them there."
In April, Gen. Gregory Guillot, the head of U.S. Northern Command, spoke to a House Committee about the deployment, which comes at a time when the number of people apprehended at the U.S. Mexico border is low – a number that's been trending down for the last year and a half.
"The initial results of sealing the border have been fantastic if you look at the stats," said Guillot. "But we need to make sure that's lasting and it goes through all the cycles of illegal migration that we see…and I think that will take probably a couple of years."
A long deployment gives Kavanagh pause. She wonders what a yearslong mission at the border means for the country's ability to respond to crises elsewhere.
"In my view, it makes more sense to protect and preserve military resources," said Kavanagh. "So that if a crisis occurs - a real crisis occurs that affects U.S. interests - we would have the vehicles and the personnel to respond in the optimal way."
The Trump administration plans to expand its use of the military. Recently, the Department of Homeland Security asked for 20,000 National Guard troops to help with deportations.
The Pentagon says the border mission has so far cost $525 million.
This story was produced by The American Homefront Project, a public media collaboration that reports on American military life and veterans.
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