US says it won't ask Mexico to send troops to help with migrant surge at southern border
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WASHINGTON — The U.S. does not expect Mexico to match the troops its sending to the border in anticipation of an emergency immigration restriction, known as Title 42, lifting next week.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. border officials under the Trump and Biden administrations used the public health emergency stipulation to expel migrants and deter border crossings along the southern border.
Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced it would deploy 1,500 active-duty troops to the southwest border to help deal with an expected surge in migrants seeking to enter the United States.
National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said Thursday that the U.S. is not seeking "reciprocal action" action from Mexico in response to its announced troop deployment.
Kirby said that the two nations have a "good dialogue," as evidenced by a visit this week to Mexico City by Biden's homeland security adviser, on both migration and drug trafficking.
"We're grateful for the Mexican government's willingness to continue to take and house migrants that are illegally trying to enter the United States," he said at a White House press briefing.
He added that the active-duty troops "are not going to participate in law enforcement activities" while they are stationed at the border. "They're simply going to flesh out what is already an existing mission by DOD on the border with administrative tasks, helping with logistics and sustainment."
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas is visiting the border on Thursday to assess capabilities and facilities in anticipation of Title 42 ending.
The pandemic-era health restriction, which prohibited most undocumented migrants from entering the country, will lift on May 11 when the COVID-19 emergency ends.
Biden's homeland security advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall met earlier this week with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico City to discuss trafficking and increased migration at the southern border.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden, US not pushing Mexico to match Title 42 troop deployment
