President Donald Trump's decision to send naval warships to help security at the tropical border sends a strong deterrent message to those who may be thinking of going to the US by sea, says one expert.
“It's usually unusual, but you usually look at the land, but it's still smart,” Alfonso Aguilar, former chief of the U.S. Citizenship Office and director of Hispanic Engagement for the American Principles Project, told Fox News Digital.
The comments were deployed to support border security efforts under Trump's executive order, the Navy said in a statement Saturday.
“The maritime capabilities of gravity will improve our ability to protect the integrity, sovereignty and security of our territorial integrity, sovereignty and security,” said General Gregory Guillott of the Northern United States Command, who is responsible for military operations at the border.
The Pentagon deploys naval warships that fought the Houchis along the Trump order
The USS is being deployed by President Trump to support border security efforts. (Getty Images | dvids)
The USS' main mission, already departing Yorktown, Virginia for border missions, is to patrol the US Bay in search of drug smugglers, military officials said.
The USS' serious deployment demonstrates the Navy's dedication to naval-related terrorism, arms spread, pirate crime, pirate, environmental destruction and combating illegal maritime immigration.
“It's not only is it essential for the US to control our borders through land,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told reporters Monday. “Controlling the waters of our territory is equally important, and this deployment directly supports the Northern US Command's mission to protect our sovereignty.”
Aguilar noted that it has already played a major role in helping the military secure its southern land border, making naval involvement in the navy the next natural step.
The crew will maneuver the rails as early bark-class guided missile destroyers, which are heavily transiting the George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge in Yorktown, Virginia on March 15, 2025.
The San Diego sector chief said:
“That's what the military calls a projection of force,” Aguilar said. “This is a great way to discourage anyone wanting to come to America through the ocean…it's a show of power.”
Aguilar argued that the naval deployment would help supplement operations already underway by the US Coast Guard, boost the Coast Guard's capabilities, cover more oceans, and send a strong message to those heading towards the sea as an alternative to land intersections.
“Land military forces providing the Border Patrol with a balance of support… The Navy does the same, fights and provides support to the Coast Guard in enforcement… immigration activities on the high seas,” Aguilar said.
Aguilar also noted the timing of the deployment, claiming it fits what the Army has already achieved at the border under Trump.
US Marines (PFC) with 1st Marine Division, 1st Combat Engineers Battalion and 1st Combat Engineers Battalion engineering barriers along the tropical border near San Isidro, California on March 2, 2025.
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“The numbers are falling, and even the number of people trying to cross the border at sea, it's still a route,” Aguilar said. “What we saw is that every time we close the door, they try to find another way to get in. So we have to close the borders of the land, but we have to close those ocean entries to the US.”
Stephen Sorace of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
