U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration on Tuesday approved sending 1,500 troops in the coming days to the U.S.-Mexico border as a measure to address the immigration crisis.
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The move came ahead of the May 11 lifting of Title 42 imposed during the COVID-19 health emergency. It allows for the expedited removal of people from the U.S.
“The president has used the tools at his disposal to prepare in advance of the lifting of Title 42,” said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.
According to White House sources, the uniformed members of the U.S. Armed Forces will serve for 90 days, complementing the work being done by the U.S. Border Patrol.
In a new statement, DHS reiterates that military “personnel have never, and will not, perform law enforcement activities or interact with migrants.”
“DoD personnel will be performing … ground based detection and monitoring, data entry, and warehouse support.” pic.twitter.com/t3K92DXSPh
— Camilo Montoya-Galvez (@camiloreports)
May 2, 2023
“When the Title 42 order is lifted at 23:59 on May 11, the U.S. will resume the use of Title 8 to expeditiously process and remove persons arriving illegally at the border,” the State Department said in a statement.
The government agency said the Regional Processing Centers (RPCs) in Guatemala and Colombia will begin operations processing asylum, work permit, and family reunification applications.
Canada and Spain also agreed to receive migrants from RPCs, the State Department said, noting that the U.S. government seeks to achieve regular, orderly, and safe migration.
The President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, said about the Biden administration’s decision that “it is part of its attributions. It is an independent, sovereign government; they make those decisions, and we respect them.”
