AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — About 300 Maine Army National Guard members will soon be going to Arizona as part of a federal effort to beef up security on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The soldiers will help build roads and fences, work on culverts and install lighting after they are deployed later this month and in April, said Capt. Shanon Cotta, spokesman for the Maine National Guard. The troops will assist immigration and border agents with administrative and engineering projects, but are not involved in law enforcement activities to crack down on illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

For Maine’s guard units, that means helping build roads and install surveillance systems. Many roads along the border are subject to washouts from rains, making them difficult to patrol, Cotta said.

“We need to maintain the infrastructure on the border so that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has the access and ability to patrol these areas,” Cotta said.