Alabama is sending a National Guard helicopter and guardsmen to help patrol the Mexican border at the request of President Donald Trump’s administration.

Gov. Kay Ivey’s office announced Friday that the helicopter and five guard members will support the Texas National Guard in partnership with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The state will dispatch a UH-72A Lakota helicopter on Tuesday, along with a flight and maintenance crew, from an aviation battalion based in Birmingham.

Ivey’s office said the crew will be an additional tool for the “observation and tracking of illegal activity in the region,” but the soldiers will not be conducting law enforcement operations.

(Associated Press, copyright 2018)

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