DHS Pleads for Volunteers to Assist With ‘Overwhelming’ Surge at Southern Border

[IceWizard]

Alien migrants receive food as they wait for news at the border,
in Tijuana, Mexico, on Feb. 19, 2021.
(Gregory Bull/AP Photo)






DHS Pleads for Volunteers to Assist With ‘Overwhelming’
Surge at Southern Border


BY ISABEL VAN BRUGEN
March 9, 2021
Updated: March 9, 2021



The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Monday requested that its staff volunteer to assist
in dealing with an “overwhelming” migrant surge at the U.S.-Mexico border, as the Biden administration
continues to deny that there’s a crisis.

“Today I activated the Volunteer Force to support Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as they face a
surge in migration along the Southwest Border,” DHS Secretary Mayorkas said in an email to staff Monday,
obtained by several news outlets.

“You have likely seen the news about the overwhelming numbers of migrants seeking access to this
country along the Southwest Border,” Mayorkas said.

“President Biden and I are committed to ensuring our Nation has a safe, orderly, and humane immigration
system while continuing to balance all of the other critical DHS missions.”

DHS volunteers, in a non-law enforcement capacity, will work to carry out tasks such as assisting in control
rooms, doing housekeeping, preparing meals, doing supply and prescription medicine runs, and managing
property, Fox News reported.

Mayorkas said in his email that in 2019, under the Trump administration, over 900 volunteers had been
deployed to support their CBP colleagues “during a similar migration surge.”

“Please consider joining the Volunteer Force to again provide needed humanitarian support along the
Southwest Border and relief for our CBP colleagues,” Mayorkas wrote.

“I also realize these are uncertain times and being away from home may be concerning. But today your
colleagues need assistance carrying out their mission to help others, and DHS is going to support you while
deployed,” he said, adding, “Your health and wellbeing will remain priorities.”





Alien migrants climb the banks of the Rio Grande River into the United States
as smugglers on rafts prepare to return to Mexico in Penitas, Texas, on March 5, 2021.
(Adrees Latif/Reuters)



Illegal Crossings Spike

The number of illegal crossings at the southern border has steadily risen since October last year. The
number of encounters at the southwest border between October 2020 and January 2021 was 296,259,
an increase from 164,932 during the year-earlier period, according to data from the CBP, representing
a 79.6 percent increase.

Since taking office on Jan. 20, President Joe Biden signed a flurry of executive orders that dismantled the
Trump administration’s border security measures.

On his first day in office, Biden signed executive orders and issued memos to temporarily suspend
deportations of illegal aliens, reverse former President Donald Trump’s ban on travel from terror-prone
countries, halt border wall construction, stop adding people to the Trump-era 2019 “Remain in Mexico”
program, preserve and fortify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and release
a sweeping immigration package to Congress that includes amnesty for millions of asylum seekers and
illegal immigrants.

The attorneys general of Arizona and Texas have sued Biden over a memo from the administration that
ordered a freeze on the majority of deportations for 100 days. A federal judge temporarily blocked the
order on Jan. 26.




President Joe Biden speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House
in Washington on March 5, 2021.
(Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images)



The Biden administration’s proposed plan to legalize about 11 million illegal aliens living in the United
States—something he vowed during his campaign—was formally introduced by Democrats in Congress
last month.




Situation ‘Unstable’

After visiting the CBP facility in Edinburg at the southern border over the weekend, Rep. Dan Crenshaw
(R-Texas) described the situation as “unstable.” He noted that the areas he toured have been seeing a
huge spike in migrants, with over 6,000 apprehended at just one station.

On Saturday, Texas launched an operation to counter the growing crisis, activating National Guard troops
and deploying them and other law enforcement officers to the border to combat drug and human smuggling.

Biden hasn’t yet acknowledged the crisis or announced any concrete plans to address the growing
numbers of illegal crossings. When asked by a reporter this week whether there’s a crisis at the border,
Biden replied, “No, we’ll be able to handle it.”


The White House and the DHS didn’t immediately respond to a request
for comment by The Epoch Times.



Janita Kan and Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.

[ColdNorth]

All of this just scares me. Why would Biden choose to do this NOW, while we still are getting Covid under control and having this many migrant crossings when no plan is in place. This administration is a big disappointment . I do support whoever is in Office however it is getting more difficult everyday. Can anyone find something positive about Biden administration or is it just impossible to find something. ugh it gets so discouraging.