The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is sending 1,500 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to support an expected migrant surge as Title 42 comes to an end.
Title 42, which was put forth by former President Donald Trump and continued through the Biden Administration, is set to expire on May 11. It allowed the U.S. to turn asylum-seekers away without having their claims heard as a means of controlling the spread of COVID-19.
A U.S. official tells Scripps News that the troops, sent for 90 days, will not be performing law enforcement functions or interacting with migrants, but will aid in administrative tasks — including data entry, ground-based detection and monitoring and warehouse support — until U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) has contracted support for the tasks.
The move would free-up border patrol agents to perform law enforcement duties, but officials said it wouldn’t be necessary if Congress would act. President Joe Biden had put forth comprehensive immigration legislation calling for support from Congress.
The DOD has been providing CBP with help for over two decades, so the practice is not uncommon.
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