The incident occurred near Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on Tuesday evening. The names of the soldiers have not been released so that the military can inform their families first, the Daily Mail reported. The troops had been deployed as part of Joint Task Force Southern Border in order to support President Donald Trump's effort to secure the US-Mexico border with his executive order.
Victims of the accident were Marines from Camp Pendleton in California. They reportedly got in the crash while they were in a civilian vehicle, however, no civilians were injured in the incident and it did not involve the Stryker vehicles that the military is using to perform the patrols down at the border.
The cause of the accident remains under investigation as of Thursday.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X, "I am very saddened to learn of the tragic accident yesterday that took the lives of two of our nation’s heroes and seriously injured another. My heartfelt condolences and prayers are with them, their families, and the unit."
3,000 troops were ordered to help secure the border last month, as well as control the trafficking of drugs flowing into the US from Mexico. The new troops were being used to "reinforce and expand current border security operations to seal the border and protect the territorial integrity of the United States," as the Trump administration has been working to clamp down on illegal immigration.
During the Biden administration, soft-border policies led to record numbers of illegal immigrants crossing into the United States.
