The Biden administration is expected to send active-duty troops to the southern border as it braces for what is expected to be a surge in migration after the lifting of Covid restrictions next week, three senior administration officials told NBC News.
At the request of the Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Department is expected to provide a temporary increase of 1,500 military personnel for 90 days to supplement U.S. Customs and Border Protection efforts at the border, according to a U.S. official familiar with DHS’s request. 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 patrol as needed, in compliance with the Posse Comitatus Act, which prevents the military from enforcing law within U.S. borders.
More than 5,000 troops were sent to the border during the Trump administration.
Covid restrictions, known as Title 42, are set to end May 11, prompting the administration and its border officials to bracing for a surge in migrants when the restrictions are lifted. Federal immigration authorities said last month that local officials are already short on the money and space needed to handle migrants.
Fox News was first to report on the administration’s consideration of sending troops to the border.
The Border Patrol union previously criticized Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his alleged failures in addressing the surge of migrants along the border and demanded he be impeached.
Mayorkas on Sunday called for congressional support to fix the “broken immigration system” ahead of the expected migrant surge in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
“So I just want to be clear that we are working within significant constraints,” he said. “We need people, we need technology, we need facilities, we need transportation resources, all of the elements of addressing the needs of a large population of people arriving irregularly at our southern border.”
Mayorkas also said he aims to draw support from Congress to help agents along the border: “I look at their needs. I try to fulfill their needs. We go to Congress and seek support.”
The acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, Troy Miller, told Congress last month that he expects about 10,000 migrants to cross the border daily when the ban ends, doubling the current flow.
The lifting of Title 42 next week marks the third time the Biden administration has sought to end the measure. The restrictions have blocked migrants from crossing into the U.S. to seek asylum more than 2.5 million times since they were put in place at the start of the pandemic.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
