The Transportation Security Administration says it will not force employees to relocate to the U.S.-Mexico border to help Customs and Border Protection but is asking workers to volunteer for the deployment, according to a senior TSA official.
A leaked email quoted in a report Tuesday evening stated TSA was sending more than 400 personnel to the southern border to help with a continued surge of immigrant families who have illegally crossed the border and sought asylum over the past few months.
TSA said deployments, like a “surge force,” are voluntary.
“The bottom line is we’re soliciting volunteers to go help assist CBP on the southwest border. The numbers are unclear at this point, but anyone in TSA is welcome to volunteer,” the official said.
The official expects 1% of the agency’s 44,000 employees to head down to the border. All will work with CBP’s Office of Field Operations, that is, officers who work ports of entry. TSA workers will not help U.S. Border Patrol agents, who work on the land between border crossings.
[Related: TSA union warns border deployment may ‘undermine’ air safety at busiest time of year]
“They’re going to go out there and do work that isn’t necessary for a law enforcement — for the CBP officers to do. They’re going to do things like meal prep, property management, some of our attorneys will probably assist with immigration cases, doing some of that support work.”
The move comes weeks after TSA Administrator David Pekoske was tapped to serve as acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Pekoske’s boss, Kevin McAleenan, most recently served as the head of CBP.
The CNN report from Tuesday cited an internal TSA email that stated as many as 175 law enforcement officers within TSA would be sent to the border. TSA told the Washington Examiner law enforcement officers could help migrants who need minor medical attention.
The last time TSA personnel were deployed to help another agency was in 2018 as part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to devastating hurricanes.
