Trump’s use of warship for border enforcement a ‘smart’ use of military force, expert says

President Donald Trump’s decision to send a Navy warship to assist with security at the southern border sends a strong message of deterrence to those who might be thinking of crossing into the U.S. by sea, one expert says.

“It’s unusual, normally you see land forces, but it’s still smart,” Alfonso Aguilar, a former chief of the U.S. Office of Citizenship and the director of Hispanic engagement at the American Principles Project, told Fox News Digital.

The comments come as the USS Gravely, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, is being deployed to assist in border security efforts under Trump’s executive order, the Navy said in a statement Saturday.

“Gravely’s sea-going capacity improves our ability to protect the United States’ territorial integrity, sovereignty, and security,” said Gen. Gregory Guillot of U.S. Northern Command, which has been in charge of military operations at the border.

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The USS Gravely is being deployed by President Trump to assist in a border security operation. (Getty Images | DVIDS)

The primary mission of the USS Gravely, which has already departed Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, Virginia, for the border mission, will be to patrol the Gulf of America on the lookout for drug smugglers, military officials said.

The USS Gravely deployment shows the Navy’s dedication to “combating maritime-related terrorism, weapons proliferation, transnational crime, piracy, environmental destruction, and illegal seaborne immigration,” Navy officials said, adding that the warship will enhance “maritime efforts” and “fill critical capabilities gaps” for Department of Homeland Security operations on the border.

“It’s not only vital for the United States to have control of our border via land,” Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell told reporters Monday. “It’s equally important to control our territorial waters, and this deployment directly supports U.S. Northern Command’s mission to protect our sovereignty.”

Aguilar noted that the military has already played a large role in helping secure the southern land border, making the Navy’s involvement at sea the next natural step.

Sailors man the rails as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely transits the George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge in Yorktown, Va., on March 15, 2025. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Ryan Williams)

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“It’s what the military calls force projection,” Aguilar said. “It’s a great way to dissuade those who want to try to come to the U.S. through the sea … it’s a show of force.”

Aguilar argued that the Navy’s deployment will help supplement operations already being carried out by the U.S. Coast Guard and will also enhance the Coast Guard’s capability, covering more sea and sending a strong message to those turning to the seas as an alternative to land crossings.

“Like the forces on land that are providing a supportive balance role to the Border Patrol … the Navy will be doing the same thing, providing support to the Coast Guard in doing interdiction and enforcing … immigration activities on the high seas,” Aguilar said.

Aguilar also noted the timing of the deployment, arguing that it fits with what land forces have already accomplished on the border under Trump.

U.S. Marines with the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, affix concertina wire to engineer stakes on the barrier along the southern border near San Ysidro, Calif., on March 2, 2025. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Dominic Atlas)

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“The numbers have gone down, even the number of people trying [to cross the border] by sea, but it’s still a route,” Aguilar said. “What we have seen is that every time we close the door, they try to find another way to get in. So we have to close our land border, but we also have to close those sea entries to the U.S.”

Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.