The Navy reported on Saturday that another destroyer has been dispatched to the southern border to assist in the ongoing maritime activities aimed at reducing illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Officials from the Navy mentioned that the USS Spruance, a guided-missile destroyer of the Arleigh Burke class, set out from Naval Base San Diego on Saturday to participate in operations at the southern border. The goal of the mission is to restore territorial integrity at the US southern border, according to a statement from the Navy. The deployment of Spruance is aimed at bolstering maritime operations, fostering collaboration between different agencies, and contributing to a unified and strong response in combating various maritime-related threats such as terrorism, proliferation of weapons, transnational crime, piracy, environmental damage, and illegal seaborne immigration, as stated in the announcement. “USS Spruance’s deployment as part of US Northern Command’s southern border mission brings additional capability and expands the geography of unique military capabilities working with the Department of Homeland Security,” said Gen. Gregory Guillot, USNORTHCOM commander. He added that with Spruance off the West Coast and the USS Gravely, a recently deployed destroyer in the Gulf of America, the Navy’s maritime presence “contributes to the all-domain, coordinated DOD response to the Presidential Executive Order and demonstrates our resolve to achieve operational control of the border.” Coast Guard officials told Fox News Digital earlier this month that hundreds of migrant boat encounters were logged near the San Diego coast in the last 90 days, prompting the allocation of additional resources. Spruance will bring maritime capabilities to the US Northern Command in response to executive orders signed by President Donald Trump, a national emergency declaration and clarification of the military’s role in protecting the territorial integrity of the US. The combatant command “continues to fill critical capabilities gaps in support of DHS and CBP,” according to the statement. The destroyer will be accompanied by an embedded US Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) created in 1982. Coast Guard LEDETs carry out a variety of maritime interdiction missions, including counter-piracy, military combat operations, alien migration interdiction, military force protection, counter-terrorism, homeland security and humanitarian response. Spruance returned to Naval Base San Diego Dec. 19, 2024, after a five-month deployment to the US 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operation as part of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group (ABECSG). The strike group was ordered to the US Central Command area of responsibility to bolster US military force posture in the Middle East, deter regional escalation, degrade Houthi capabilities, defend US forces and sail alongside allies and partners to promote security, stability and prosperity, Navy officials said. “Assigned destroyers of the ABECSG, to include Spruance, were essential to providing a layer of defense to US forces and ensuring the safe passage of commercial vessels and partner nations transiting in international waterways like the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden,” according to the statement.