The US administration has been discretely installing additional military surveillance cameras at the U.S.-Mexico border as its response to the COVID-19 pandemic even though fewer people appear to be crossing illegally.

This is the latest move as operations at the said border have turned increasingly militarized, not to mention, secretive. Documents gathered by The Associated Press present the Department of Defense, at the Department of Homeland Security's request, sent around 60 mobile surveillance cameras and roughly 540 additional troops this month, to the southwest border.

Relatively, the said documents are uncategorized but only for official use, and were included in the presentation made last week for the briefing of U.S. Army North commander Lt. Gen. Laura J. Richardson. The U.S. Army North is the primary unit that oversees military movements at the border.


Why is the US increasing camera installations?

A spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, Matthew Dyman said, the military is manning the surveillance cameras, which will be removed once the pandemic has ended, which is under the Department of Homeland Security.

Dyman also said that the request for cameras did not depend on border flows but the growing number of COVID-19 cases in Mexico. He explained that every person who avoids arrests and makes further entry into the United States has the possibility to be a carrier of the virus and puts the lives of Americans at risk.


Decline in Apprehensions of People who Illegally Cross the Border 

The Customs and Border Protection said apprehensions of people who illegally cross the border have dropped by 77 percent since a peak in May. Figures in April, the department added, have not been released yet, although it said that they are seen to be even lower.

Moreover, the security cameras were installed and set up before U.S. President Donald Trump signed on Wednesday an executive order placing a 60-day pause on the green card issuance in an initiative to restrict competition for employments in a US economy wrecked by the COVID-19 pandemic.

President Trump has used emergency powers in this time of pandemic for the implementation of an aggressive border restriction that has included immediate deporting or turning away asylum seekers, which also include minors.

According to Dyman, the assistance from military means more agents of the Border Patrol can concentrate on apprehending people who are crossing illegally or ousting foreigners under a hardly used law on public health that President Trump's administration tapped in the middle of the pandemic.

What the Southern Border Expert Says

Documents showed that the additional cameras installed in the back of trucks bring the total number to 192. Incidentally, according to David Shirk, a southern border expert, he sees no excuse or rationalization for adding more cameras and troops.

Mexico so far, he pointed out, "has a fraction of the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 that have been validated in the US," while the expatriates flown back from the US have introduced cases in their home countries.

"There is no evidence suggesting that there are COVID-19 patients orders line up along the border," elaborated Shirk, who is also a University of San Diego associate political science professor. He also added that there is no proof either that COVID-19 is adding to a surge in people attempting to cross the US-Mexico border.


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