Two US service members assigned to southern border task force killed in vehicle accident
By Natasha Bertrand, CNN
(CNN) — Two US service members were killed after their vehicle was involved in an accident Tuesday morning near the southern US border, the military said in a statement.
The service members were “deployed in support of Joint Task Force Southern Border,” US Northern Command said in the statement.
A third service member is in serious condition at a local hospital, the military said.
The cause of the accident, which occurred near the border town of Santa Teresa, New Mexico, is under investigation, the task force said in the statement.
The military is withholding the names of the service members until the next of kin is notified.
The Joint Task Force Southern Border – announced last month – was created “to tactically synchronize the Department of Defense efforts to secure and seal the southern border,” according to a press release from USNORTHCOM.
President Donald Trump mandated that the US military step up its presence along the southern border on his first day in office. Thousands of additional troops have been deployed to the border in recent months as part of his efforts to “seal” the border to migrants.
CNN recently reported that Trump sent a memorandum to four federal department heads last week, instructing them to allow the military to use and take jurisdiction of federal land along the US-Mexico border.
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