The purpose of the center or “cell” will be to monitor and better predict the movements of immigrant groups such as the 30,000 Haitians who arrived across the US border in Texas as illegal immigrants in September, the report said.
The new center is planned to be operational by the end of October and will supply the DHS with indications and warnings of possible surges in immigration from South and Central America, the report said. It will gather intelligence from DHS personnel stationed throughout the Western Hemisphere, the report said.
Senior officials from Customs and Border Protection (CBP), DHS Office of Intelligence Analysis and the US Coast Guard held a meeting on October 13 to coordinate plans for the new center, the report added.
The job of collecting intelligence about looming migration movements and circulating them through the federal government was run by DHS’ Office and Intelligence and Analysis but such reporting ended during the Trump administration, according to the report.