U.S. military C-17 aircraft began flying out migrants on orders from President Donald Trump on Friday, as the Pentagon prepared to send even more troops to southern border, including from the Army's elite 82nd Airborne division.

The Pentagon will begin deploying as many as 1,500 active duty troops to help secure the southern border in the coming days, U.S. officials said Wednesday, putting in motion plans President Donald Trump laid out in executive orders shortly after he took office to crack down on immigration.

The Trump administration is sending active-duty troops to the southern border just days after President Donald Trump declared a national border emergency.

Thousands of migrants are now in limbo at the U.S.-Mexico border after President Trump shut down the main legal channel for asylum seekers to enter the country. Many had waited months for immigration appointments,

U.S. border agents have been instructed to summarily deport migrants crossing into the country illegally without allowing them to request legal protection.

The Trump administration has essentially eliminated the ability to pursue asylum at the border, attempting to erase by executive order a right established in U.S. and international law. The restrictions leave migrants who claim they fear for their lives almost no path toward safety in the United States.