The clock continues to count down until 11:59 p.m. Thursday, when COVID pandemic restrictions will be lifted, and more illegal border crossers are expected to enter the country from Mexico.
About 550 active duty troops have arrived in El Paso and have deployed on the border. They’re in the first group sent to support the Border Patrol.
More than 900 additional troops will arrive later in May and will serve as observers and monitors, the Pentagon said.
“[They will] be “providing additional ground detection monitoring capability, warehouse support, [and] data entry,” Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder told reporters. “They are not there in any way to be interacting with migrants.”
Title 42 was the restriction that stopped those attempting to cross, but it had no legal consequences. The end has led to a surge of people from Juárez, Mexico, across from El Paso, attempting to enter before 11:59 p.m.
Starting Friday morning, illegal crossers could be barred from entering the U.S. for five years and possibly face criminal charges.
“We believe we have a robust process to deal with what is going to occur after Title 42 lifts. Again, we’re using the tools that are available to us because Congress refuses to do their job as it relates to the border,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
