The Biden administration insists it is handling the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border in a humane manner.
But some are questioning whether the decision to send military personnel to the border will further their mission of treating migrants humanely.
A reporter asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday, “If the president’s priority is to treat the immigrants humanely like you said, wouldn’t he be sending social workers, psychologists, judges, and lawyers to the border instead of sending active military personnel?”
“The active military — as I just explained to one of your colleagues here — it’s been done for more than two decades now,” Jean-Pierre responded.
She explained military personnel will be assisting with “administrative tasks like data entry and warehouse support.”
“They’re not going to interact with migrants,” she stressed.
Watch the video below:
Reporter: "If the president's priority is to treat the immigrants humanely like you said, wouldn't he be sending social workers, psychologists, judges, and lawyers to the border instead of sending active military?" pic.twitter.com/SYY7zTx8lq
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) May 2, 2023
Jean-Pierre added the administration would “love to be able to have more resources at the border to do the critical work that is needed.”
“But the reason why we’re moving in this direction… is because Congress has not acted,” she added.
The Biden administration approved the deployment of 1,500 additional troops to the border on Tuesday.
As The Washington Post reports, “The Department of Homeland Security requested the temporary increase to supplement Customs and Border Protection’s efforts, a U.S. official said. The deployment is expected to last 90 days, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity citing ongoing interagency discussions.”
“Troops involved will not conduct law enforcement work, the official said. Rather, they will fill ‘critical capability gaps, such as ground-based detection and monitoring, data entry, and warehouse support, until CBP can address these needs’ through contracted help,” it added.
The move comes as officials are bracing for a potential wave of migrants at the border when Title 42, a pandemic-era border policy, is lifted.
Officials have estimated there could be over 10,000 illegal border crossings per day once the policy ends.
On Monday, Jean-Pierre insisted, “[President Joe Biden] has tools that he’s used to make sure we do this. We actually deal with the immigration system in a humane way, in a way that actually deals with what we’re seeing at the border.”
“And that’s why you’ve seen the parolee program be so successful. When it comes to illegal immigration, you’ve seen it come down by more than 90%. And that’s because of this, the actions that this president has taken,” she claimed.