On Tuesday, House Republicans sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas calling for the DHS to immediately begin using current technologies at the southern border to help alleviate the border crisis.
“We are troubled by claims that DHS is not fully deploying innovative ‘smart’ technologies along the border, such as AST towers and fiber optic sensors, that have been procured by the federal government through contracts previously granted for building border barrier infrastructure,” the letter stated, according to Fox News.
“Instead of making use of these innovative technologies to improve security in our southern border, decrease the influx of illegal drugs and human trafficking operations, we have been told the federal government has decided to store them at significant expense while also placing a large burden on contractors, some of whom have been ordered to remain in an indefinite holding process. These contractors continue to incur significant costs while not being able to sell and/or wind down investments,” the letter added.
The congressmen then gave Mayorkas a list of demands, including a full accounting of the already-procured technologies being stored in warehouses and if there are any plans to use the technologies by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or any other agencies.
“Failing to mount an adequate response to the upcoming surge in illegal crossings, especially when no contingencies are currently in place to make up for the rescinding of Title 42 policy, presents a major risk to CBP personnel while threatening their important efforts to interdict drug smuggling and illicit human trafficking at our border and its legal points of entry,” they wrote.
President Biden’s administration planned to end Title 42 on May 23 but was temporarily blocked by a federal judge on May 20. The Biden administration’s efforts to end the policy have received bipartisan pushback from Republicans and moderate Democrats who have warned that it would further worsen the border crisis.
“Title 42 has been an essential tool in combatting the spread of COVID-19 and controlling the influx of migrants at our southern border,” Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin (WV) said in a statement. “We are already facing an unprecedented increase in migrants this year, and that will only get worse if the Administration ends the Title 42 policy. We are nowhere near prepared to deal with that influx. Until we have comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reform that commits to securing our borders and providing a pathway to citizenship for qualified immigrants, Title 42 must stay in place.”
