They want TSA to help speed things up? Do they know what agency they’re talking about?
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.