First soldiers of up to 15,000 arrive at southern border far ahead of shrinking migrant caravan

While the mostly Honduran migrant caravan remains about 700 miles away from the United States in Mexico, the first of up to 15,000 troops the Trump administration plans to send to the border have arrived at their new posts.

Around 160 active-duty soldiers were stationed near McAllen, Texas, this weekend, where they will practice drills and build border barriers topped with razor wire.

Border patrol agent and National Border Patrol Council representative Chris Cabrera said the soldiers will be helpful for extra surveillance of the border but are ultimately a temporary solution. "You can put [troops] shoulder to shoulder from Brownsville to San Diego," he said, but "[a]ll [immigrants] got to do is put one foot on land and say, 'I need asylum,' and we're still in the same position."

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The caravan, meanwhile, has shrunk from its peak of 7,000 people to about 4,000 and splintered into several smaller groups. Younger migrants and those without children are forging ahead at a slightly faster pace than the rest.

Two other caravans, each numbering between 1,000 and 1,500 people, have also crossed Mexico's southern border and are moving north.