Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved in May the deployment of a total of 1,500 active duty troops for a temporary increase in the 90-day military presence at the border. At the time, illegal border crossings rose rapidly due to concerns that they would spike further after the restrictions ended, but the numbers have since dropped.
The 1,100 soldiers will conclude their 90-day mission on August 8; the remaining 400 will run through August 31, a defense official said on condition of anonymity to discuss details before an announcement.
At the time the troop movements were made public, officials emphasized that active-duty troops would not take front-line positions at the border or interact with migrants, but rather perform tasks such as data entry or support at the border. warehouse with the goal of releasing Customs and Border Protection personnel who are in the field.
The troops were to support border officials working on ending Title 42. That rule allowed the government to quickly expel tens of thousands of migrants from the country in order to protect the United States from COVID-19.
In the days leading up to the end of Title 42, border agents were encountering 10,000 migrants a day and at one point had 27,000 migrants in custody. But immediately after Title 42 expired, the numbers dropped sharply to about 5,000 encounters per day and have remained low, according to the agency’s data.
It is not clear how permanent these declines are. The number of people crossing the Darien Gap, a key route for migrants heading to the United States from South America, during the first seven months of the year is already more than all of 2022 combined.
The departure of active duty military troops is also happening, as much of the Biden administration’s immigration agenda is subject to court challenges. Last week, a federal judge ruled that an administrative rule limiting access to asylum at the southern border was against the law. The administration is appealing that ruling, arguing that it is a key part of its efforts to maintain order at the border.
Separately, the Justice Department announced last week that it is suing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to force the state to remove floating buoys on the Rio Grande River that the federal government says present a humanitarian and environmental concern.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
