US homeland security department plans to create Southwest Border Command

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is reportedly considering to establish a command that will focus on the entry of illegal immigrants from the soutwest border of the country.

In what is said to be DHS’ major restructuring since its formation after 11 September terror attacks, the new Southern Command, or Southcom would combine groups of agents from Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the new unit would be supervised by a Coast Guard admiral, who will also be responsible for personnel from both agencies.

According to Border Patrol statistics, about 400,000 immigrants have been detained while attempting to illegally enter into the US during the 2013 budget year, while the number of children entering illegally nearly doubled to 66,127 from the previous year.

The DHS plans to adopt a military-style structure, which will be mainly aimed at improving the investigation capabilities of agents on criminal activity along the southwest border.

For the plan of the DHS to materialise, the US parliament needs to pass a legislation and this is likely to take a while, the newspaper said.