(The Hill) — The Interior Department is deputizing federal border agents to National Park Service sites amid the federal law enforcement takeover of Washington, D.C., Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Wednesday.
Burgum wrote in a post on X that the department “has authorized a service-wide deputization” of Customs and Border Protection officers to “intensify crime deterrence efforts” at Park Service sites.
He did not explicitly say whether the action only applied to the district, but he did write, “Thank you to these brave officers who are working 24/7 to enforce @POTUS’ directive to make D.C. safe again!”
The Interior Department and CBP did not immediately respond to additional questions from NewsNation partner The Hill.
The move comes as federal law enforcement agents, including immigration authorities, have swarmed the nation’s capital. CBP officials have been among them, though the agency is typically in charge of border security.
Washington is home to many National Park Service sites, which typically fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Park Police. This includes both tourist-heavy spots like the National Mall and Ford’s Theatre, as well as ones that are typically frequented by locals, such as DuPont Circle, Logan Circle and Rock Creek and Meridian Hill parks.
It’s not clear where exactly the CBP agents will be located or how many of them there will be.
Rebecca Beitsch contributed to this report.
Click this link for the original source of this article.
Author: Rachel Frazin
This content is courtesy of, and owned and copyrighted by, https://www.newsnationnow.com and its author. This content is made available by use of the public RSS feed offered by the host site and is used for educational purposes only. If you are the author or represent the host site and would like this content removed now and in the future, please contact USSANews.com using the email address in the Contact page found in the website menu.
