OPM Issues Memo Requesting that Feds Assist at Southern Border
On March 25, 2021, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued an urgent memorandum for current GS-9 to GS-15 federal employees to volunteer for 120-day details to the southern border. The number of unaccompanied children at the southern border of the United States has increased significantly since the beginning of 2021, causing the Biden administration to request additional support to care for and place the unaccompanied children.
The number of unaccompanied children encountered by Border Patrol increased from 5,858 in January 2021 to 9,457 in February 2021. In fiscal year 2021, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) expects 500,000-800,000 migrants to attempt to cross the border as part of family groups.
The OPM memo reads, “HHS is seeking interested candidates to serve up to a 120-day voluntary deployment detail as part of the HHS, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Unaccompanied Children (UC) Program. OPM and HHS are calling upon our Federal Agency family of exceptional public servants to lend support to this humanitarian effort through this detail opportunity."
In most cases, unaccompanied minors are transferred from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) within 72 hours after they are detained and processed. While President Biden has deployed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to the border, more work remains and additional assistance is required. Most federal employees responding to the request would be deployed to Dallas, San Diego, Fort Bliss, and San Antonio, or other locations as necessary. OPM is seeking at least 1,000 federal employees to step up and volunteer.
OPM will fully reimburse agencies for sending their employees and employees will receive travel, lodging, and per diems through HHS. This detail opportunity is the second time in recent years that help from federal employees has been requested at the border. The last time was under the Trump administration in 2019, but employees worked with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and CBP instead of HHS.