Global Courant 2023-05-02 21:28:30
The Biden administration is expected to send active-duty troops to the southern border as it braces for what is expected to be a wave of migration following the lifting of Covid restrictions next week, three senior administration officials told NBC News.
At the request of the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense is expected to provide a temporary increase of 1,500 military personnel for 90 days to supplement US customs and border protection efforts at the border, according to a US official familiar with the request of the DHS. The troops would be active duty, not National Guard, and would not be armed. They would not use force or make arrests, but would support border patrols where necessary, in accordance with the Posse Comitatus Act, which prevents the military from enforcing the law within US borders.
More than 5,000 troops were sent to the border during the Trump administration.
Migrants line up after being detained by US authorities at the US-Mexico border in Mexico’s Ciudad Juárez on April 30, 2023. Christian Chavez/AP
The Covid restrictions, known as Title 42, expire on May 11, prompting the government and its border officials to brace for a wave of migrants when restrictions are lifted. Federal immigration authorities said last month that local officials are already short of money and space needed to handle migrants.
Fox news was the first to report on the government’s consideration of sending troops to the border.
The Border Patrol union previously criticized Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas for his alleged failure to deal with the wave of migrants along the border and demanded that he be impeached.
Mayorkas on Sunday called for congressional support to fix the “broken immigration system” ahead of the expected wave of migrants in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
“So I just want to be clear that we are operating within significant constraints,” he said. “We need people, we need technology, we need facilities, we need means of transportation, all the elements to meet the needs of a large population of people arriving irregularly at our southern border.”
President Joe Biden walks along a stretch of the US-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, in January.Andrew Harnik / AP file
Mayorkas also said he wants Congressional support to help agents along the border: “I look at their needs. I try to meet their needs. We are going to Congress and seeking support.”
Acting Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection Troy Miller told Congress last month he expects about 10,000 migrants to cross the border each day when the ban ends, doubling the current flow.
The lifting of Title 42 next week marks the third time the Biden administration has attempted to end the measure. The restrictions have blocked migrants from entering the US to seek asylum more than 2.5 million times since the start of the pandemic.
