Homeland Security said Tuesday it had asked the Pentagon to send 1,500 troops to help deal with a looming increase in illegal immigration.
The 90-day deployment is necessary because the Biden administration will on May 11 relinquish its Title 42 pandemic power to deport illegal immigrants, leaving it without a key tool that had kept the chaotic border from turning into a disaster.
Homeland Security said troops are already on the border anyway, but more will be needed “due to an expected increase in migration.”
“DOD personnel will perform non-policing duties such as ground detection and surveillance, data entry, and warehouse support. DOD personnel have never and will not perform law enforcement activities or interact with migrants or other persons in DHS custody,” the department said in a statement. “This support will free up DHS law enforcement personnel to perform their critical law enforcement duties.”