US Braces for Migration Surge with Thousands of Forces at Mexico Border

By Staff, Agencies

The United States on Wednesday was preparing its response to an expected surge of migrants seeking to enter from Mexico, with officials saying 24,000 law enforcement personnel were deployed to the southern border.

US President Joe Biden has acknowledged that the border will be “chaotic for a while” with the expiration of Covid rules, which forbade virtually all asylum claims there.

Tens of thousands of people are waiting at crossing points for the end of so-called Title 42 overnight Thursday into Friday, despite Washington vowing to enforce the border vigorously. A senior US official said that 24,000 border police and 1,100 border processing personnel were deployed – double the number a year ago.

People mostly from central America, Haiti, and Venezuela have been seeking to enter the world’s wealthiest country as they flee poverty, violence, and drought.

The crossings have become a political flashpoint in the country, with the Republican Party under former US president Donald Trump championing stringent anti-immigration measures. Trump as president used Title 42 – officially a public health measure – as a blunt tool to block migrants, but both the US and World Health Organization say the emergency phase of the pandemic is over.

A group of Republican senators on Wednesday accused the Biden administration of responding too slowly and attacked the decision to stop Trump's signature proposal of a border wall.

"The administration has failed to acknowledge the crisis at our border, and is recognizing in the 11th hour that the upcoming removal of Title 42 authorities, and the subsequent surge in border crossings that is predicted, will have disastrous effects on the security of our nation," said Senator Mitt Romney.