DHS Secretary Orders More Personnel To Southern Border

Seal of the United States Department of Homeland Security with the U.S./Mexico border behind it. Image by DHS/Lenny Ghoul.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen issued a memo on Monday to “U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Kevin McAleenan outlining new steps the agency must take to combat the growing security and humanitarian crisis at the southern border.”

According to the DHS announcement the memo sent to McAleenan ordered the CBP, “to undertake emergency surge operations and immediately increase its temporary reassignment of personnel and resources from across the agency to address the influx of migrants. According to the directive, the CBP Office of Field Operations shall accelerate its planned reallocation of up to 750 officers to Border Patrol Sectors that are affected by the emergency.”

In the same memo, Nielsen “further directed,” the CBP to expand “the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP),” which allows the U.S. to “return aliens to Mexico to wait during the pendency of their U.S. immigration proceedings.”

The new directive comes days after President Trump threatened to shutdown the Southern Border via tweet.

CNN reported that on Monday when asked by reporters on the White House lawn the economic impact of closing the border, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers Kevin Hassett, “declined to specify Monday what economic impacts the administration expects if President Donald Trump closes the US-Mexico border this week.”

He did state “It’s something that I’m sure we’ll be looking into and studying.”

As a reminder: It was also announced last week, that the State Department has cut off Federal Aid to Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.

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About Tiff 2520 Articles
Member of the Free Press who is politically homeless and a political junkie.