Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday that he is deploying up to 10,000 National Guard members and 1,200 Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to the state’s border with Mexico. The number of troopers represents about 40% of the state’s total number.
The announcement comes days before the expiration of Title 42, a pandemic-era policy that allows the U.S. to expedite deportations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The expiration of Title 42 coincides with the Biden administration ending the nation’s COVID-19 emergency.
Abbott says the National Guard troops and DPS troopers will be used to stop migrants from entering.
Meanwhile, 1,500 troops are being sent to the border by the Biden administration. The administration has acknowledged that service members will be used in administrative roles to free up law enforcement resources at the border. This is because the president is unable to use the military for law enforcement roles, based on the Posse Comitatus Act.
"The troops cannot process the migrants," said Victor Trevino, the mayor of Laredo, Texas, in an interview with Scripps News. "They're there just to give support. It could turn into a grave situation, a grave humanitarian crisis, as we're seeing already. And we have to balance these things. We have to balance our border security and our humanitarian efforts."
What is being done to manage migrant spike after Title 42 ends?
The expiration of Title 42 is just days away. Although there is consensus something needs to be done, lawmakers are struggling to find a solution.
“We're here today because of the impending end of Title 42 policy. With the Biden administration ending Title 42 this Thursday, President Biden is laying down a welcome mat for people across the entire world, saying that the United States border is wide open, and it would lead to an incredible amount of people coming across the border illegally,” Abbott said. “President Biden's open border policy is going to be a catastrophic disaster in the United States.”
President Biden, however, has argued that with the COVID-19 emergency ending, and without new laws being passed by Congress, the U.S. must go back to following laws that allow migrants to seek asylum.
Additionally, Abbott said that the rate of buses of migrants being sent to Democratic-led cities throughout the U.S. will increase as a result of Title 42’s expiration.
