WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — The Biden administration has received mixed reactions in response to his plan to send 1,500 U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps troops to the southern border next week ahead of the expiration of Title 42.
Title 42 was put into place in March 2020 as a way to turn away migrants at the border seeking asylum in the name of public health concerns. Since then, border agents have denied entry to millions of migrants.
The troops will be deployed at the border for 90 days to help with the surge of migrants expected at the U.S.-Mexico border after the COVID-era border policy expires next Thursday.
The Biden administration said the troops heading to the border would not be helping with law enforcement duties. Instead, they’ll be assisting with data entry, warehouse support and administrative tasks.
In the announcement on Tuesday, the White House spokesperson noted how troops have been sent to the border previously. She then took aim at Congress to pass more border legislation.
“DoD personnel have been supporting CBP at the border for almost two decades now. So this is common practice,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “This will free up Border Patrol agents to perform their critical law enforcement duties. I will also add that this would not be necessary if Congress would act.”
Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper reinforced that the Department of Defense has been providing support to the Department of Homeland Security since the early 2000s.
Esper said they should be beefing up DHS and providing more resources for them to do what they need to do. He said two administrations used Title 42 to manage the border, saying it is time for Congress to pass a law to give the government the authority to do what they need to do to secure the border.
“It’s unsustainable and it’s been an ongoing crisis for a long time,” Esper said. “We need new immigration reform … it’s long overdue.”
El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser told NewsNation’s Marni Hughes that he is thankful for the additional resources being sent to the southern border, especially since having troops there to process migrants at checkpoints will free up more Border Patrol agents to patrol the actual border.
“They won’t be here to administer immigration laws. They’ll be in non-law enforcement activities and that’s really important,” Leeser said. “It allows the Border Patrol to actually do their job and work to secure the border.”
But Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson Lt. Chris Olivarez called the president’s decision to send troops to the border a move to avoid negative optics of the anticipated influx of illegal migrants.
The White House announcement also brought criticism from both political parties.
Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.) posted to Twitter, saying active-duty troops should not be sent to the border to deal with vulnerable migrants.
“We condemned Trump for doing the same thing. Biden shouldn’t follow his lead and move forward with these plans. Military deployment isn’t a replacement for meaningful immigration reform,” Garcia said.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said Biden’s decision to send troops to the southern border is just another example of his administration’s poor planning for “a crisis that has been long in the making.”
He wrote on Twitter, “The president and his team knew that the end of Title 42 risks an unprecedented migrant surge at the southwest border – yet Homeland Security waited until virtually the last minute to request Department of Defense support.”
Just last week, the Biden administration announced it would put in place a faster screening process at the border for migrants seeking asylum while also deporting migrants not qualifying for asylum faster.
Homeowners living along the U.S.-Mexico border have told NewsNation they fear more for their safety as Title 42 ends.
Debbie Douglas, whose Texas ranch was vandalized by illegal migrants, said she is scared for the pandemic-era border policy to end, but that she is doing her best to prepare for the anticipated influx of illegal immigrants to cross over.
“We have added more cameras to our place so we can see what’s going on or who is coming up to our property,” Douglas said.
She said she isn’t against migrants coming over to the country, she just says they need to do it the proper way and have patience.
