More than 220 million people across the United States are facing dangerous cold that will also open the door for a potentially historic and crippling winter storm that could deliver snow as far south as Florida and the Gulf of Mexico.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to close the country's southern border. It concerns the closure of entry for illegal migrants, the White House website reports. "The President has the authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act,

On Tuesday, a historic winter storm left regions of the South blanketed in snow, including Florida, Texas and Louisiana.

Thousands of additional active duty US troops are being ordered to the southern US border with Mexico, just two days after President Donald Trump mandated that the US military step up its presence there,

The U.S. military has deployed approximately 1,500 troops to the southern border to aid the Department of Homeland Security’s border security measures.

The national emergency declaration will allow the Trump administration to deploy armed forces and National Guard members to the border. Trump said troops will "repel the disastrous invasion of our country." It's unclear how many troops will be sent to the border.

Parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas began to see snowfall on Thursday as Southern states stretching to the Carolinas brace for the storm to reach them on Friday.

In addition, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security says to keep refrigerators and freezers closed: Refrigerators will keep food cold for about four hours, and freezers will keep food cold for about 48 hours. If power is out for more than a day, throw out any medication that requires refrigeration, the agency said.

The average snowfall for Atlanta is 1.5 inches. Many years have no snow at all, but there have been events that shut down the city. The record is the 8.3 inches that fell back on Jan. 23, 1940, and the most recent snow was just a couple of years ago with .1” falling on the day after Christmas in 2022.

The Trump administration has ordered 1,500 U.S. military troops to the southern border as part of a crackdown on undocumented migrants.

President Trump issued a raft of executive orders that effectively block migrants from entering the United States and applying for asylum, closing off major legal channels for immigration.