VIDEO Concerns Over Redeployment of US Customs and Border Officers

There may be some delays at the Windsor Detroit border as a result of a Trump administration policy about the Southern border.

With more and more families being stopped and held at the border with Mexico the resources in place are not up to the task.

Customs and Border Protection are temporarily reassigning 731 C.B.P. officers from other locations including the border here.

There are 328 ports of entry to the US at the borders, seaports and airports so the numbers at each are relatively small.

Allan Booth, Acting Deputy Chief for US Border Patrol Detroit Sector, says they can't give specific number for the impact in this region.

He says the situation with Central American families entering at the southern border is causing the problem.

"There's a large both humanitarian and border security crisis going along. Our three particular sectors along the Southwest borders simply aren't resourced and don't have the facilities to handle the demographic that we're catching now."  

Deputy Chief Booth explains the way US borders have been staffed isn't able to accommodate the situation.

Allan Booth, Acting Deputy Chief for US Border Patrol Detroit Sector,May 15, 2019 (by AM800's Peter Langille)

"We are built as police stations, we are designed to hold single adults primarily from Mexico which is the historical traffic we had.  And now with the dynamics of the family units we simply aren't built to house separate and properly care for that.  So we're having to make some internal resource adjustments to try and quell that flow, while we work with the legislators to work through some fixes."

He says they will try to limit the impact on people and goods crossing the border here.

"Organizationally we are trying to meter out where we pull those resources from to not have too large of an impact.  But it can be expected there will be some impact at both northern and southern crossings as we reallocate resources to deal with the humanitarian crisis."

CBP Spokesperson Kristopher Grogan says they don't anticipate the slight reduction will inhibit cross-border travel.

Some 50 C.B.P., Border Patrol and other policing organizations took part in a Police Week Memorial Ceremony today at the Detroit Border Patrol Station.

Since its creation there have been nearly 150 border officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

Many were at the Windsor Detroit frontier from the Prohibition days of the 1920's.