Another round of Michigan National Guard soldiers headed south as part of border patrol mission

By Amber Eikenberry
Published  October 17, 2025 7:35am EDT
FOX 2 Detroit

The Brief

    • About 120 Michigan Army National Guard soldiers are going to the southwest border as part of an ongoing mission.
    • The soldiers will support U.S. Customs and Border Protection security missions, so customs can focus on law enforcement duties, the military said.
    • This is the sixth Michigan National Guard rotation of this mission since 2020.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (FOX 2) - A group of Michigan Army National Guard soldiers are headed to the southwest border this month as part of an ongoing border mission that started in 2020.

The approximately 120 soldiers assigned to Traverse City's 1430th Engineer Company will work with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), according to the National Guard. The Guard said that this deployment is the unit's first deployment since 2010, when soldiers went to Afghanistan. 

The soldiers will focus on border security while CBP conducts law enforcement duties. These soldiers are expected to spend up to a year at the border. 

They will depart during a ceremony Friday morning in Kalamazoo.

Dig deeper:

This is the sixth Michigan National Guard deployment to the border since 2020. Previous deployments took place in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2024. 

The deployments have all been approved by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. 

The Source: This information is from the Michigan National Guard.

Watch FOX 2 News Live

Loading Video…

This browser does not support the Video element.
MilitaryImmigration