Mexico says US troops on border won't be armed

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mexico's Foreign Ministry says U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has told Mexico's top diplomat that U.S. National Guard troops being deployed to the border "will not carry arms or carry out migration or customs control activities."

Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray is in Washington on a visit. A foreign ministry statement issued Wednesday night says Nielsen told Videgaray that the troops will only be providing support for Department of Homeland Security work.

It says the deployment will be similar to ones in 2006 under President George W. Bush and in 2010 with President Barack Obama in which the National Guard helped to provide surveillance.

Trump signed a proclamation Wednesday night ordering the secretary of defense to support the Department of Homeland Security in securing the southern border to stop the flow of drugs and migrants.