Biden increases the militarization of the border with Mexico in the face of the potential increase in immigration

A migrant and her daughter watch the US military from the Mexican side of the border in Ciudad Juárez.John Moore (Getty Images)

Tension on the border with Mexico.

The Government of Joe Biden will mobilize 1,500 active soldiers to the area before the imminent end of the health emergency, on May 11.

The Administration believes that the disappearance of title 42, which expires with the emergency declaration of the pandemic, will increase illegal crossings to more than 10,000 every day, according to official figures.

White House officials argue that the military will be in charge of administrative tasks to offload the Customs and Border Protection Office (CPB), which will act on the ground to contain the migratory flow.

The armed forces will be in the area for 90 days, although the stay can be extended if necessary.

The news has been released through Administration officials who have requested anonymity.

Sources have assured the Associated Press that the troops will not arrest immigrants.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has insisted on this in a statement.

“Department of Defense personnel have never carried out law enforcement actions and will not do so, nor will they interact with migrants or persons in DHS custody,” the message states.

The military will focus on processing the data of the detainees, detecting the points that need attention from the Border Patrol and providing support in CBP warehouses.

Homeland Security claims that soldiers have worked in the binational region since 2006. This morning's announcement, however, raises the militarized profile of the border.

Some 2,500 active members of the National Guard are already deployed along the nine sectors of the line.

A total of 4,000 military elements will be in the area for the next month and a half until they are replaced by civilian contractors.

The measure has provoked criticism from sectors sympathetic to the Democratic party.

“Deploying troops suggests a worrying lack of preparation for this transition.

DHS had more than two years to plan for the extinction of title 42. Instead, this situation has escalated into a major emergency that will once again bring troops into our communities,” said Andrea Flores, an immigration policy attorney who worked at the Biden transition team and Vice President Kamala Harris.

The non-governmental organization Al Otro Lado believes that the Executive, instead of militarizing, should increase resources for communities "to welcome asylum seekers with dignity."

A Trump-style decision

The Army had already been sent to the border in the time of Donald Trump.

The former Republican president, who made border control one of his flags, deployed 800 elements of the National Guard in October 2018. The announcement was made a week before the midterm elections on November 6, hoping to garner votes from the Republican base and before the increase in caravans of thousands of migrants leaving Honduras and Central America.

The area already had a presence of military forces.

More than 2,000 uniformed officers were already carrying out surveillance work.

Biden's decision comes amid growing concern about what the end of title 42 could cause. This, a tool established by Trump in the pandemic, allowed the Executive to quickly deport illegal immigrants.

The decline of the norm, which is not viable without the health emergency, makes the Government depend again on title 8. The measure toughens the consequences after deportations, which can lead to criminal charges or a ban of up to five years to enter the United States.

Alejandro Mayorkas, the person in charge of Internal Security, has insisted that transit to the north must be done by requesting a permit through an application and waiting in other countries, such as Guatemala or Colombia, for the green light to continue the journey.

The end of Title 42 has caused several border towns to hold assemblies to discuss how to prepare for the eventual increase in immigrants in their communities.

The city of El Paso, in Texas, declared a state of emergency on Sunday and opened two shelters in expectation.

The mayor, the Democrat Oscar Leeser, has been in charge of promoting the message coming out of Washington: “We are not going to open the border.

It is not open today and it will not be open on May 12.”

Republican Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas and one of the most radical on immigration, has tightened border surveillance.

The Texas National Guard has put up more barriers and barbed wire to slow the passage of immigrants.

They have also sent fifty Humvee-type military tactical vehicles to the city of Brownsville.

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