Ahead of an expected migrant surge as pandemic-era restrictions end, President Joe Biden is sending 1,500 troops to the United States-Mexico Border. Under current COVID-19 restrictions, U.S. officials are allowed to turn away tens of thousands of migrants crossing the southern border, but those restrictions will lift May 11.
"This personnel will be performing administrative tasks, like data entry and warehouse support. They will not be performing law enforcement functions, or interacting with immigrants or migrants," said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre."
Sheriffs in counties along the border say they found out about the deployment as it was announced on May 2. They were not alerted ahead of time by Federal government officials."How long have we known [about] May 11, or Title 42 is going to go away?" said Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels. "We've all known that for quite some time. Why are we waiting until days before to get out of this plan?"
Dannels has been critical of the Biden Administration's handling of the border, but says this is a step in the right direction."Is that a proactive approach, or is that a reactive approach, based on the border is already in crisis mode?" Dannels said.
