An unprecedented flood of migrants heading for the United States from the Mexican border has created a dangerous crisis that has the Biden administration scrambling to react.
And when CNN is the one reporting it, you know it must be very bad.
US authorities arrested and encountered more than 100,000 migrants on the US-Mexico border over the past four weeks ending on March 3, according to data obtained by CNN, marking the highest levels for the same time frame in five years.
The number of migrants arrested on the southern border has been increasing in recent weeks, causing alarm among officials as they scramble to provide resources for the increase in minors and families who are unlawfully crossing into the US.
The surge in migrants adds to a growing sense of emergency for the Biden administration which has been seeking to unwind the Trump administration’s immigration policies over that time.
Things have gotten so bad that Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, is asking DHS staff to volunteer to help deal with what he is calling an “overwhelming” number of migrants at the U.S.-Mexican border. Mayorkas emailed DHS personnel on Monday to plead for help.
“Today, I activated the Volunteer Force to support Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as they face a surge in migration along the Southwest Border,” Mayorkas said in an email to staff, seen by Fox News.
“You have likely seen the news about the overwhelming numbers of migrants seeking access to this country along the Southwest Border,” he 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.”
Volunteers will be used in a non-law enforcement capacity, with duties including managing property, preparing meals, doing supply runs, prescription medicine runs, housekeeping, and assisting in control rooms.