Northern Command playing critical role in response to migrant surge at border
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Title 42, which allowed the federal government to quickly turn away undocumented immigrants at the border due to the threat of Covid-19, expired on Thursday, May 11.
The expiration coincided with the announcement that the public health emergency in the U.S. has now ended as well.
In anticipation of the Title 42 expiration, thousands of migrants from Mexico and Central America have camped out along the border over the last few weeks, prompting concerns about a sudden surge of migrant crossings.
The concerns lead to a request from the Department of Homeland Security to the Department of Defense for troops to handle some of the logistics surrounding the federal government's response.
At the beginning of May, the White House announced the approval of 1,500 extra troops being sent to the border, and Northern Command at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs was tasked with commanding and controlling those troops, on top of the additional troops already stationed along the border.
The units sent to the border are coming from Army and Marine installations in North Carolina and central Texas.
As of Friday, approximately 550 troops were on their way to El Paso, Texas. Another 950 will arrive between May 27 and June 5.
According to Lt. Col. Sonie Munson, no additional personnel from Northcom in Colorado Springs is heading to the border, because there is already a group called Joint Task Force North permanently in El Paso.
That troops being sent to the border this week won't have direct contact with migrants.
Military personnel will instead do data entry, warehouse support, and other administrative tasks so that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection staff can focus on the fieldwork.
Munson explained that Northern Command has actually commanded troops along the border for several years, and this surge response is simply a new mission on top of that.
The extra troops are expected to remain there for at least 90 days.
