The Pentagon has announced that it will send 1,500 active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border for three months to help with administrative tasks as pandemic-era restrictions end and more migrants are expected to arrive.
The troops will not be involved in any law enforcement activities, such as apprehending migrants, but will provide data entry, warehouse support and other capabilities to free up U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents for fieldwork.
The deployment was requested by the Department of Homeland Security and approved by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. It could be extended if needed. The exact date of the deployment was not disclosed.
“This deployment to the border is consistent with other forms of military support to DHS over many years,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said in a statement.
“Military personnel will not directly participate in law enforcement activities. For 90 days, these 1,500 military personnel will fill critical capability gaps, such as ground-based detection and monitoring, data entry, and warehouse support, until CBP can address these needs through contracted support,” he said.
The Biden administration is preparing for a “surge of migrants” after May 11, when a Trump-era policy that allowed U.S. officials to expel migrants crossing the border will expire.
Democrats condemned the plan. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Chair Bob Menendez (D-NJ) labeled it “unacceptable,” adding:
[D]eploying military personnel only signals that migrants are a threat that require our nation’s troops to contain. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), said the policy would victimize “the innocent,” although breaking into a country, even one whose central government is actively trying to destroy it, is actually still a crime.
The right to seek asylum is a basic human right, protected under US and international law. The victims of this policy will be the innocent—people who committed no crime other than daring to seek a better life in the United States of America.
Republicans favored the use of troops but found their clerical mission useless. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) tweeted:
Biden says he will deploy 1,500 troops to the border — primarily to do paperwork. And only for 90 days. This does nothing to stop illegal immigration. I deployed up to 10,000 Texas National Guard to the border to fill the gaps created by Biden’s reckless open border policies.
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