The Pentagon is sending thousands more troops to the US-Mexico border, and it could cost taxpayers $550 million

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Asia J. Sorenson

• A Pentagon official said Tuesday that having troops on the US-Mexico border has cost taxpayers $235 million.
• That cost will double if National Guard troops remain there through the end of the 2019 fiscal year.
• The Pentagon announced Tuesday plans to send thousands more active-duty troops to support the border mission.
• The official could not provide a cost estimate for the active component, as the mission is still evolving.

The costs of maintaining active-duty and National Guard troops on the southern border have risen to $235 million to date, a Pentagon official said Tuesday.

About $132 million has been spent on the active-duty troops who began deploying to Texas, Arizona and California in early November, Vice Adm. Michael Gilday, operations director for the Joint Staff, told a House Armed Services Committee hearing.

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