One thousand is all that he can afford. Add up the costs of a thousand Army guys, their housing pay, etc.
To be truthful....for the 1,900 miles of Texas border...you’d have to have around 50,000 troops to maintain adequate security. Toss in New Mexico, California, and Arizona. You’d probably have to have around 150,000 troops. That would mean pulling every soldier in South Korea, Italy, Germany, and Alaska....to make this work.
Point taken. It was a worthless gesture meant to fool the foolish.