Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan recently offered an assessment of his McAllen, Texas, trip to gain insight regarding challenges faced at the U.S. Southern Border.
The effort involved observing the potential strategic and operational obstacles encountered by law enforcement and local communities confronting ongoing the humanitarian and security crisis.
“We recognize the strain that this humanitarian crisis has placed on service providers and communities such as yours along the border – it affects the men and women of DHS as well,” McAleenan said. “We hope to better coordinate our efforts to manage the migrants in our care. But we are also working to address the factors driving this crisis.”
McAleenan joined the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) for a midnight shift tour of the U.S.-Mexico border. He also toured the Humanitarian Respite Center operated by Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, a local nongovernmental organization providing services to migrants once they are released from custody, followed by meetings with the members of the Center’s leadership.
“We are taking aggressive action to mitigate the crisis, and protect vulnerable people in our custody by expanding medical care, creating temporary facilities, improving transportation, using additional resources from across DHS while seeking continued support from interagency partners throughout the Federal government,” McAleenan said.
DHS and its federal law enforcement partners are exhausting measures to confront the security and humanitarian crisis. The department has taken a full-fledged disaster response, including appointing a lead federal official for interagency action and leveraging the National Response Coordination Center.