(NewsNation) — The Biden administration is sending troops to the southern U.S. border to support Customs and Border Protection agents as they prepare for the end of Title 42.
The Department of Homeland Security requested 1,500 extra people to help CBP agents. The roles will be administrative, with no law enforcement duties or interaction with migrants. In a statement, DHS said the request is related to an expected surge of migrants.
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection is investing in technology and personnel to reduce its need for DoD support in coming years, and we continue to call on Congress to support us in this task,” the agency said in a statement.
The move comes after President Joe Biden issued an executive order allowing the Department of Defense and DHS to order reserve troops to active duty. Biden also extended a national emergency declaration calling global illicit drug trafficking a threat to the U.S.
Deployment of service members to the U.S.-Mexico border began after former President Donald Trump declared an emergency at the border due to the number of migrants. Biden canceled that order, but the troops remained at the border.
Roughly 8,000 service members were deployed at one point, with more than 5,000 of those active-duty personnel. However, the military phased out the use of active-duty troops after finding the deployments had a negative effect on those units.
This latest round of troops will include some active-duty units, which can mobilize quickly, and who will be joined by National Guard and reservists in the future.
In July 2022, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin authorized as many as 2,500 troops to support agents working on the border. Separately, Texas National Guard members have been sent to patrol the border in a state operation meant to deter people from crossing between ports of entry.
Title 42 was a pandemic-era policy that allowed CBP agents to send people away at the border without hearing their claim for asylum or using official removal procedures. It’s set to expire May 11, and CBP expects a surge of migrants once the policy is gone.
Once Title 42 expires, CBP will return to Title 8, which allows for expedited removal of migrants. Under Title 8, those removed would not be allowed back into the U.S. for a period of time that could be as long as 20 years.
That could cut down on the number of repeat encounters, since migrants expelled under Title 42 don’t get banned from subsequent attempts to enter the U.S., which means one individual can account for multiple encounters.