WASHINGTON – The Pentagon announced Tuesday that it will send extra troops to the US-Mexico border to help maintain security as officials anticipate an increase in migrant crossing attempts when Covid-19 immigration limitations expire on May 11.
A total of 1,500 troops will be dispatched to the border, adding to the 2,500 already present to assist Border Patrol agents in the event of a surge in border crossings.
“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,” stated spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder.
Title 42, the rigorous protocol set by previous president Donald Trump to restrict admission to refugees and expel asylum seekers based on the Covid pandemic emergency, will be lifted on May 11 by President Joe Biden’s administration.
With the relaxation of coronavirus laws, particularly the decision on Monday to eliminate vaccine requirements for arriving travelers, the Biden administration can no longer justify using Title 42 to stem migration.
Instead, the administration intends to prevent undocumented immigration through Title 8, which criminalizes illegal border crossings and makes future legal residency hard.
According to Washington, prospective migrants and asylum seekers must now register for interviews with immigration officials from their home countries or those they travel through on their way to the border.
The interviews can be scheduled via a new smartphone app called CBP One.
Furthermore, the State Department announced last week that it would establish processing centers for hopeful migrants in other countries, beginning with Colombia and Guatemala.
According to US officials, Canada and Spain have agreed to take in some of individuals who have been cleared for emigration by the processing centers.
“It’s an approach focused on making migration more safe, orderly, and humane, as well as advancing the interests of the American people,” stated Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
In the last two years, border officials have been under tremendous pressure from migrants, primarily from Central and South America and the Caribbean.
During the fiscal year ending September 30, 2022, border officials intercepted nearly 2.4 million people, the vast majority of whom were turned back.
They apprehended 191,899 persons without migratory documents in March 2023.
Following a meeting with US Homeland Security Adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall on Tuesday, the Mexican government stated that it would “continue to accept back migrants on humanitarian grounds.”
The deployment of US troops to the border has sparked debate, but officials insist that the border is not being militarized.
The Department of Homeland Security has stressed that the military will not be involved in law enforcement, which is handled by US Customs and Border Enforcement.
Instead, the soldiers will assist in backup operations such as border monitoring and IT services.