Pentagon Approves $7.4M for Troops to Feed, Care for Border Crossers

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The Department of Defense is planning to spend $7.4 million on a troop mission at the United States-Mexico border that includes feeding and caring for migrants and border crossers, the agency announced Monday afternoon.

The mission will involve sending 320 more U.S. troops heading to the southern border to help Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents take care of migrants who have crossed the U.S. border.

Defense Department officials described the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) request for more aid for migrants as necessary in dealing with the “humanitarian crisis” at the southern border.

Aside from helping to feed and care for migrants, the Defense Department mission will also include busing and transporting border crossers in the U.S. Federal officials made clear that troops will not perform any law enforcement functions:

DoD personnel will assist in driving high-capacity CBP vehicles to transport migrants; providing administrative support, including providing heating, meal distribution and monitoring the welfare of individuals in CBP custody; and attorney support to ICE. [Emphasis added]

DoD personnel will not perform any law enforcement functions. In any situation that requires DoD personnel to be in proximity to migrants, DHS law enforcement personnel will be present to conduct all custodial and law enforcement functions, and provide force protection of military personnel. [Emphasis added]

A defense official said, “monitoring the welfare of individuals” means U.S. troops will conduct walk-throughs and check to see if migrants are OK, but are not going to have interaction with them. If any interaction is needed, troops would contact DHS, the official said. – read more

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