Biden to send 1,500 ACTIVE duty U.S. troops to southern border ahead of Title 42 ending next week – as migrant caravan heads north
- Biden will send 1,500 active duty troops to the U.S. border
- Title 42 ends May 11; surge of migrants expected in its wake
- Troops would support border agents, not perform enforcement
President Joe Biden will send 1,500 active duty troops to the U.S. border ahead of the end of Title 42 next week as a massive caravan of thousands of immigrants makes its way north.
The move is coming at the request of the Department of Homeland Security, a U.S. official told DailyMail.com. The Defense Department will deploy the troops for about three months to help out U.S. Custom and Border Patrol agents.
‘At the request of DHS, DOD will provide a temporary increase of an additional 1,500 military personnel, for 90 days, to supplement CBP efforts at the border,’ the official said.
The soldiers would come from a variety of active duty Army units, two senior U.S. officials told Fox News, which first reported the news.
The troops would not help with law enforcement but would be there to support the 18,600 agents on the border, freeing them up ahead of a suspected surge of migrants after Title 42 ends on May 11th.
Above a migrant caravan in Chiapas, Mexico, heads for the border ahead of Title 42 expiring on May 11
Some estimates have up to 35,000 asylum seekers waiting to cross the U.S. border once the pandemic-era policy Title 42 ends next week.
Last month, 3,000 immigrants started trekking through Mexico as a large group to push toward the U.S southern border in prepartion for the COVID-related ban to end.
The Donald Trump-era order allowed migrants to be quickly turned away at the border and sent back to Mexico, citing the COVID pandemic.
Republicans have been critical of Biden’s handling of the situation at the border. And even some Democratic lawmakers in border states have questioned how the administration is handling the migrant situation there.
On Monday it was revealed US Border Patrol agents made more than 50,000 arrests in one week – along the southern, northern and coastal borders – with over 1400lbs of drugs being recovered.
Migrants, mostly from Venezuela, are camped out in front of Sacred Heart Church in El Paso in advance of the planned May 11 ending of COVID-19 border restrictions known as Title 42
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday argued it was up to Congress to take action on the border, saying Biden has done all he can solely with executive power.
‘He has asked Congress to take action – Republicans in Congress to take action,’ she said. ‘He’s going to continue to do that.’
Biden signed an executive order last week to help combat drug trafficking at the border, the active duty Coast Guard units to be deployed to help.
Meanwhile, El Paso, Texas, Mayor Oscar Leeser declared a state of emergency on Monday ahead of the expected surge in his city, but warned migrants they will not be able to enter the U.S. without any documentation.
‘We are not opening the borders. The borders are not open today and they will not be open on May 12,’ he said.
President Joe Biden weighing whether to send 1,500 active duty troops to the U.S. border ahead of the end of Title 42 next week
Migrants line up after being detained by US authorities at the US-Mexico
Then-President Trump had sent troops to the border in October 2018 for support when a caravan more than 4,000 migrants was making its way from Mexico toward the United States.
They functioned as support personnel and their duties included transporting border officials via helicopter and staffing command and control centers, in addition to helping erect tents and perform crowd control.
Biden’s troop surge is expected to do the same.