The Pentagon is preparing to expand its military role along the southern border

The Pentagon is preparing to approve a relaxation of the rules preventing troops from interacting with migrants entering the United States, reinforcing the army's participation in President Trump's operation along the southern border.

Senior Department of Defense officials have recommended Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan to approve a new request from the Department of Homeland Security to provide military lawyers, cooks and drivers with the necessary assistance to deal with the massive influx of migrants along the southern border.

The move would require the waiver of more than 300 soldiers in accordance with a long-standing policy prohibiting military personnel from coming into contact with migrants.

Since the beginning of Trump's recent implementation of the border, the Pentagon has approved only one request for a waiver of this policy, to allow migrants to provide emergency medical care, if necessary. There are currently about 2,900 soldiers on active duty and 2,000 National Guard soldiers along the border.

Shanahan is expected to sign the application Friday.

According to internal Pentagon documents obtained by the Washington Post, the expansion of military activities requested along the border would cost about $ 21.9 million until the end of the 2019 fiscal year.

A sign of sensitivities surrounding a move that might be perceived as giving troops a law enforcement role, the paper says military personnel would remain in a "driver's compartment" when driving migrants to detention centers. . Customs and border protection officials would provide security during these trips.

Similarly, when asked to distribute food to migrants in detention centers and to periodically document the care provided to these migrants, they would always be accompanied by members of the security forces.

As part of the proposal, military lawyers would be attending deportation hearings in New Mexico, Louisiana and New York.

All of these activities, note the documents, require that Shanahan "grant a temporary exception to the" no contact with migrants "policy." The documents also indicate that military personnel are not allowed to undertake any activities. 39 law enforcement according to the law Posse Comitatus. .

The demand comes as Central American families arriving at the southern border of the United States are pushing US agents to the "breaking point" without precedent, according to DHS officials. Last month, US authorities treated more than 103,000 migrants, the highest total recorded in a month in more than a decade.

Border Patrol officials stated that overburdened officers were exempt from their law enforcement obligations because they were very busy looking after migrant parents and children. The shortage of drivers and agents who can accompany migrants in hospitals has been particularly acute.

In the El Paso region, where border patrol resources are most in demand, groups of migrant families who cross the border to visit the authorities sometimes wait for hours because no agent can pick them up. using vans and buses.

CBP officers have been reassigned from entry points to drive vehicles and assume other support roles for border officers, but this has worsened wait times for commercial trucks and passenger vehicles from Mexico.

Maria Sachetti and Paul Sonne contributed to this report.