PHOENIX – The administration of President Donald Trump will immediately deploy 160 active duty soldiers to two key cities along the US-Mexico border in response to a series of unfavorable federal court decisions limiting the implementation of its restrictive policies. border enforcement, as well as growing concerns about the spread of the new coronavirus.
US Customs and Border Protection announced Friday that it will deploy 80 soldiers on active duty to the San Diego border crossing in San Diego and 80 others at the Paso del Norte bridge in El Paso as of Saturday to provide “a support to military police, an engineer and air support “to customs officers at these two entry points.
The border agency’s announcement underscored the role that a February 28 decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco took into account in its decision to deploy troops in these two cities.
A panel of judges prevented the US government from sending asylum seekers to Mexico for the duration of their proceedings under the migrant protection protocols, also known as “Stay in Mexico”, concluding that the program was in violation of US immigration laws.
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In response, dozens of asylum seekers returned under the MPP gathered at the Tijuana border crossings in Brownsville, Texas, asking to be admitted to the country. CBP temporarily closed at least one border crossing in El Paso to prevent people from rushing to the port of entry.
“The CBP ports of entry (POE) are not designed or equipped to handle extremely large groups of travelers all arriving at the same time and the temporary closure of a POE is envisaged as an extreme option, as is necessary for public security and border security, “the agency said in a written statement. “Composed in response to the amassing on Friday (February 28) of large groups in Mexico with the potential to forcibly enter the United States, the CBP has closed or partially suspended operations in several locations to maintain safety and security. security.”
The 160 soldiers are part of the Defense Department’s Crisis Response Force, which the Pentagon has made available to CBP since Trump initially deployed soldiers to the border in November 2018 in anticipation of the arrival of a large caravan.
A CBP spokesperson said the deployment to San Diego and El Paso would begin on Saturday and last two weeks. The agency has the ability, depending on current needs, to expand deployment and even “lift and move” to other border crossings, he said.
The timing of the deployment of the troops is linked to the next deadline that the 9th circuit has set this week. Federal judges presiding over the case have allowed “Stay in Mexico” to continue, but only until March 11.
At this point, the court will block the program in Arizona and California – the states under its jurisdiction – unless the Supreme Court stays its decision. To date, the Supreme Court has not intervened.
The U.S. government has returned more than 60,000 people, mostly migrants from Central America, pending their asylum proceedings in Mexico. The two border towns of Tijuana, located opposite San Diego, and Ciudad Juárez, in Mexico, opposite El Paso, welcomed the most repatriated migrants.
Senior US officials, including CBP Interim Commissioner Mark Morgan, have described migrant protection protocols as a “game changer” that have allowed them to reduce the flow of large numbers of Central Americans to the American-Mexican border.
Customs and border protection also cited the US government’s “COVID-19 containment and mitigation concerns” in its decision to deploy the military.
The agency said it faces a “delicate” balance in border security while facilitating trade and legal travel which last year exceeded $ 600 billion in goods and services between United States and Mexico. More than 188 million people have crossed the border, according to government figures.
Community groups and elected officials along the US border have reacted with a mixture of concern and outrage at the Trump administration’s response to court decisions, as well as the use of coronavirus concerns as justification for deploying troops.
US Representative Veronica Escobar, a first-year Democrat from El Paso, said in a written statement that the Trump administration uses COVID-19 as “an excuse to spread fear among asylum seekers in order to continue to break the law”.
“While this is not surprising, it is nevertheless deeply disappointing that the Trump administration is using the coronavirus as an excuse to spread fear among asylum seekers in an attempt to continue breaking the law,” said Escobar. “It is because we are all concerned about the coronavirus that we must focus our resources on our real challenges, such as the limited number of tests available, something that troops at the border will not address.”
Dylan Corbett, founding director of Hope Border Institute – a binational advocacy group in the El Paso-Juárez area – expressed concern over the deployment.
“There is always a responsibility and a risk when you send soldiers to the border, knowing that you are sending them on an untrained mission,” he said.
Corbett added that it is disturbing that the government does not have a clear and comprehensive plan to deal with COVID-19, but has recently decided to close ports of entry instead of treating migrants.
It is a sentiment echoed by Vicki Gaubeca, director of the San Diego-based Southern Border Communities Coalition, a collective of more than 60 community and advocacy organizations along the border.
“We don’t need more boots in the field. What we need are more trauma specialists, more health professionals, more asylum officers,” she said. declared.
Gaubeca called the situation a “crisis that is caused by the administration (Trump)” because she chose to implement an illegal program.
She and other lawyers were worried about whether the Supreme Court would intervene and join the Trump administration.
“We have groups of volunteers in the communities where they will deploy soldiers ready to receive these people,” she said. “So it’s not something the government should do alone.”
Contributors: Eleanor Dearman and Maria Cortes Gonzalez El Paso
Follow Rafael Carranza on Twitter at @RafaelCarranza.
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