In Washington, According to U.S. officials, the Department of Defense is deploying 1,500 active-duty personnel to the southern border to help immigration authorities deal with a sharp rise in migrant crossings before the end of migration restrictions put in place during the pandemic.According to one official, the service members would be deployed for 90 days and won't be responsible for any law enforcement tasks like detaining or processing immigrants. The military forces will instead take on a supporting role, helping with logistics, office work, drug detection, data entry, and warehouse support.
President Biden authorized the Pentagon to work with Homeland Security officials to fight international drug trafficking late last month.
According to officials, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requested the deployment. A request for comment from DHS was not immediately complied with. The plans for the deployment was initially mentioned by Fox News.
In order to relieve some of the pressure on Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials who are preparing for a sharp increase in crossings once they can no longer expel migrants under Title 42, the public health restriction first enacted in March 2020, military units are being sent to the southern border. On May 11, when the COVID-19 national public health emergency ends, the policy will be terminated.
The top CBP official, Troy Miller, recently testified before Congress that his organization is ready for as many as 10,000 migrants to cross the southern border every day once Title 42 expires, which would almost treble the daily average in March. The number of migrants arriving every day has already risen to around 7,000 in recent days.
Under Republican and Democratic administrations, the military was frequently asked to assist U.S. border guards. As part of a larger campaign to stop unauthorized border crossings, the administration of former President Donald Trump approved a number of high-profile and frequently contentious deployments.
According to a U.S. official, about 2,500 National Guard soldiers are already stationed at the border to support CBP, and their role will remain the same.
Eleanor Watson, Sara Cook, and Nancy Cordes all contributed to the reporting.
Tags:
USA
