Pentagon shifts 250 U.S. troops to Texas border

Feb. 6 (UPI) -- The Pentagon announced Wednesday that it will move 250 U.S. troops to the Texas-Mexico border in response to a group of migrants approaching the United States.

Pentagon spokesman Capt. Bill Speaks said acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan authorized "the repositioning of approximately 250 active duty military personnel from current border security support missions in Arizona" to the border city of Eagle Pass, Texas, NBC News reported.

Speaks added the troops are being shifted in response to a request from the Department of Homeland Security and are coming from "existing authorities and in accordance with previously approved requests for support."

In a later statement the Pentagon clarified that not all of the troops -- which include military police and medical personnel -- would be redeployed from Arizona and some would come from Kansas and Georgia.

On Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said a group of 2,000 migrants, possibly seeking asylum in the United States, arrived at the Texas-Mexico border.

Nielsen called for "comprehensive border security" in response to the incoming group.

Guatemalan Consul Tekandi Paniagua told CNN 1,300 of the migrants in the caravan are from Honduras, 200 are from Guatemala and 400 to 500 are from El Salvador.

The migrants arrived in the Mexican town of Piedras Negras, across the Rio Grande river from Eagle Pass.