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DHS sending 750 more agents to U.S.-Mexico border over 'influx'

By Nicholas Sakelaris

April 1 (UPI) -- The Department of Homeland Security will deploy more 750 more patrol officers to the U.S.-Mexico border to conduct "emergency surge operations" due to an influx of migrants, Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Monday.

In a memorandum to U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan, Nielsen ordered the additional resources, saying the crisis is worsening.

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"We will immediately redeploy hundreds of CBP personnel to the border to respond to this emergency," Nielsen said. "We will urgently pursue additional reinforcements from within DHS and the interagency. And we will require those seeking to enter the United States to wait in Mexico until an immigration court as reviewed their claims."

The directive orders CBP agents to return hundreds more migrants to Mexico each day -- including those caught at points of entry.

President Donald Trump threatened last week to close the U.S.-Mexico border, due to what his administration considers a migration crisis.

"Our detention centers are maxed out & we will take no more illegals. Next step is to close the border! This will also help us with stopping the Drug flow from Mexico!" he said in a tweet.

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A CBP facility in El Paso, Texas, temporarily closed checkpoints on the U.S. side of the border because officials said the facilities were overwhelmed with migrants.

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