Border Patrol agents are being asked to temporarily move from the US-Mexico border to Afghanistan to help with the desperate evacuation of US and Afghan citizens following the Taliban takeover of the country.
The Border Patrol has been overwhelmed by this year’s illegal immigration crisis on the southern border, but agents were recently asked to consider an assignment to either Afghanistan or a nearby country to help process Afghans seeking refuge in the US.
Three Border Patrol agents told the Washington Examiner that the possible postings would last 30 to 90 days overseas.
One agent said that “supervisors are getting a feel for agents’ willingness to go to Afghanistan by asking around” but that there’s been “no official solicitation yet.”
An agent at US Customs and Border Protection, which includes the Border Patrol, told the Examiner that officials are “getting a list of agents with experience.”
A CBP spokesperson confirmed the report to The Post, but insisted that the work would not impede efforts to secure the US-Mexico border.
“CBP did solicit for a small number of volunteers from US Border Patrol who have a background in vetting and processing to assist CBP officers overseas. The assistance of Border Patrol agents overseas will not affect the CBP mission on the southwest border,” the spokesperson said.
Some CBP agents already are working in Doha, Qatar, to help screen tens of thousands of Afghans fleeing the Taliban.
President Biden last week deployed thousands of US troops to Kabul’s airport to assist with the evacuation as the Taliban rapidly retook Afghanistan ahead of Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw US troops from the 20-year war. The airport was flooded with civilians as the Taliban seized the capital city over the weekend.
A different agency, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, already asked for volunteers to help process paperwork for Afghan refugees, CNN reported, though foreign travel is not anticipated for those workers.
The relocation of Border Patrol agents comes despite a worsening crisis on the US-Mexico border, where there were more than 212,000 illegal border crossing detentions in July, continuing a surge that critics attribute to Biden’s policies.
