Biden sending 1,500 troops for Mexico border migrant surge

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00:00 A mechanism to carry out mass deportations.

00:03 Title 42 has, since it was put in place by Donald Trump in March 2020,

00:08 led to over two and a half million expulsions of migrants along the US's Mexico border.

00:14 But the Covid-era policy is expiring May 11th.

00:17 Fearing a surge of asylum seekers and migrants,

00:20 the US said it is sending 1,500 active duty troops to temporarily help border patrol.

00:26 This is a common practice, if you will. These personnel will be performing administrative

00:31 tasks like data entry and warehouse support. They will not be performing law enforcement

00:37 functions or interacting with immigrants or migrants.

00:40 But the temporary move is summarily disliked nearly all around.

00:44 The Pentagon has long been frustrated that troops are used for mundane

00:48 tasks. They're seeking, its press secretary said, alternative options.

00:53 For Republicans, Biden isn't taking a hard enough stance.

00:56 And for some Democrats, the latest deployment is political maneuvering.

01:00 Senator Bob Menendez, a Democrat and the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee,

01:04 lambasted the move in a statement.

01:06 Trying to score political points or intimidate migrants by sending the military to the border

01:12 caters to the Republican Party's xenophobic attacks on our asylum system.

01:15 The Biden administration itself has long been frustrated by its inability to pass

01:20 comprehensive immigration reform. With the end of Title 42, it will revert to older statutes

01:27 and warns of new policies to dissuade illegal passage.

01:30 As for migrants at the border, they say the troop deployment won't be helpful.

01:34 It's absurd to bring in the military because we're not criminals.

01:39 We're not criminal gangs. We're migrants who are fleeing out of necessity.

01:46 Mexico's president, for his part, also responded, saying he respects U.S. sovereignty.

01:51 But in Washington, the risk of a surge is a reminder that illegal immigration

01:56 remains an unresolved, politically explosive issue in the United States.

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