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President Joe Biden’s administration will temporarily send 1,500 additional troops to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, in preparation for a possible rise in illegal immigration when COVID-19 border restrictions lift later this month.
The 90-day deployment of active-duty troops will supplement the work of the U.S. Border Patrol but not carry out law enforcement duties, Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Pat Ryder said in a statement. They will conduct ground-based monitoring, data entry and warehouse support to free up border agents and “fill critical capability gaps,” Ryder said.
The force will be in addition to an ongoing deployment of about 2,500 National Guard troops.
The so-called Title 42 restrictions, set to end on May 11, allow U.S. authorities to rapidly expel non-Mexican migrants to Mexico without the chance to seek asylum.
Biden, a Democrat running for reelection in 2024, has grappled with record numbers of migrants caught illegally crossing the U.
