Border law enforcement agencies recruiting volunteers along the U.S.-Mexico border

by: Erin Coulehan

Posted: Mar 15, 2021 / 12:11 PM CDT / Updated: Mar 15, 2021 / 12:11 PM CDT

FILE – In this Thursday, May 2, 2019 file photo, Border Patrol agents hold a news conference prior to a media tour of a new U.S. Customs and Border Protection temporary facility near the Donna International Bridge in Donna, Texas. President Joe Biden’s administration is refusing to allow lawyers who inspect facilities where immigrant children are detained to enter a Border Patrol tent in Texas where agents are holding hundreds of youths. The attorneys say they were allowed to speak to children at the facility in Donna on Thursday, March 11, 2021 but were denied the chance to see the areas where the youths were being held. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) are seeking volunteers to assist the federal government’s efforts along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Volunteer support with security for unaccompanied children and migrant families was requested for CBP, CNN reports.

The Biden administration asked for volunteers as it works to quickly process unaccompanied migrant children out of CBP custody.

Despite the administration’s efforts, border law enforcement agencies have been unable to keep up with the volume of migrants seeking refuge in the U.S.

Alejandro Mayorka, Department of Homeland Security Secretary sought volunteer support from department employees on Monday in an internal email.

“Today I activated the Volunteer Force to support Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as they face a surge in migration along the southwest border. You have likely seen news about the overwhelming numbers of migrants seeking access to this country along the southwest border,” read the email.

ICE and CBP did not immediately respond to KTSM’s request for comment.