We begin with news that the B administration is sending fifteen hundred more active-duty troops, marines and Army to the southern border. That’s an addition to the twenty-five hundred national guard members already there. The decisions come ahead of an expected surge of migrants when pandemic-era restrictions, known as Title 42, expire next week. The Pentagon says the troops will not do law-enforcement duties, although some will be armed. The goal is to free up Border Patrol agents to do their jobs. Under Title 42, law enforcement was given broad authority to turn away hundreds of thousands of people including those seeking asylum on public health grounds. Well, once it expires next week, thousands more are expected to begin arriving every day.

The B administration says smugglers are already taking advantage ahead of the policy change, promising migrants easier entry to the US and making the expected surge even worse. Republicans say the crisis is already here. With thousands of migrants arriving at the southern border each day and that number is expected to rise, some of the fifteen hundred troops could in place as early as next Wednesday just one day before Title 42 is lifted. The soldiers will provide logistical support for ninety days. They will not be processing migrants, and some will be armed for self-defense purposes. The administration is preparing for as many as ten thousand migrants to cross the southern border next week, which could almost double the daily average in March. Recently, more than seven thousand migrants have arrived every day.