The Biden administration is toiling to show mastery of the looming border crisis, laying out new goals Wednesday for how to address the already surging numbers of illegal immigrants crossing into the U.S. from Mexico.
Officials said 550 fresh troops will be in place Wednesday and the other 1,000 troops it promised last week will be in place “soon.”
State Department officials also announced a goal of opening 100 “welcome centers” throughout the hemisphere to try to shape how unauthorized migrants reach the border by encouraging them to schedule appointments at border crossings rather than show up and attempt to sneak across.
But officials have previously acknowledged it would take “weeks” before the first center is open, and just two locations have been identified so far.
The administration also said it is expanding deportation flights and processing capacity at the border, and is buying more detention space to hold illegal immigrant children who may surge into the U.S. with the rest of the flow of people.
President Biden is racing ahead of a Thursday deadline, when the Title 42 pandemic expulsion power expires and a new wave of illegal immigrants is expected to rush the border. That’s on top of already unprecedented levels of people that have been coming over the last two years.
Officials on Wednesday morning called their preparations for the surge “sweeping,” but also blamed Congress for not giving them more powers.
“With the support of the Department of Defense and multiple countries across the Western Hemisphere, DHS [Department of Homeland Security] and State [Department] are implementing that plan within the constraints of a broken immigration system that Congress has repeatedly failed to fix, including by not acting on President Biden’s comprehensive immigration reform proposal, bipartisan legislation to protect Dreamers and farm workers, or repeated requests for additional resources,” the administration said.
The moves seemed intended to calm growing complaints from Mr. Biden’s allies, including Democratic leaders in border states, who say the White House has failed to show it is ready to try to head off the looming surge.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs this week chided the administration for lacking an “adequate response” to the looming crisis and said “more robust action” is needed.
The administration has tied its own hands with its approach to the border, which is more about shaping the flow of people rather than deterring it.
Smugglers have exploited Mr. Biden’s more relaxed policies over the last two years, helping send an unprecedented wave of people. Customs and Border Protection has reported nearly 6 million encounters with illegal immigrants since January 2021.
Many of those have been turned back under Title 42, the pandemic-era expulsion power first put into place by President Donald Trump. That has helped keep the border crisis from turning into a catastrophe.
But Mr. Biden will cede the Title 42 powers just before midnight Thursday in Washington.
Officials expect that will trigger a new run at the border by people who had been deterred by Title 42.
The Department of Homeland Security says it will resort to regular immigration powers to deal with the flow. That means more people can be formally deported, but that also takes longer and gives more chances for people to make claims of protection in the U.S., too.
Officials are rushing to finalize a new policy that could deny asylum to most migrants who refuse to schedule border appointments.
The Pentagon last week announced it would deploy 1,500 active-duty soldiers and Marines to the border to help Homeland Security. Those troops will be assigned support and clerical duties, with a goal of freeing agents and officers to return to their regular posts.
Officials said Wednesday that the first 550 troops will be in place Wednesday, with 1,000 more to be “announced soon.”
The announcements come too late to deter the initial wave of new migrants, who started rushing the border over the last week even before Title 42 was lifted.
The Border Patrol reported roughly 9,000 people were caught each day from Friday through Sunday, or nearly double the rate they had averaged from January through March.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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