The spring lull in illegal border crossings may be the result of increased enforcement efforts by the Mexican government To help President Biden.
“The Biden administration responds with a bad approach,” Lora Reiss, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center on Border Security and Immigration, told Fox News Digital. “The numbers reached a new high in December, and it’s no coincidence that that’s when the secretaries met with Mexican officials and then, suddenly, the numbers dropped.”
The comments come as the number of illegal crossings at the U.S. southern border with Mexico continued to fall by the most in December, falling from nearly 302,000 that month to more than 193,000 in March. This number has further declined in April Report in Washington PostBorder agents encountered approximately 130,000 migrants attempting to enter illegally from Mexico.
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President Biden has recently touted a decline in illegal border crossings. (Getty Images)
While the Biden administration has talked about a decline, a USA TODAY report This week it was noted that the unusual calm at the crossing may be related to increased Mexican efforts. Most notable in the report are the country’s recent efforts to round up migrants headed for the border and instead drive them south.
Mexican government efforts Migrants’ chances of successfully reaching the US border have been harmed, according to the report, which said Mexican police are stopping migrants on highways, train routes and airports and busing them to the southernmost part of Mexico. Is. Once there, migrants face the choice of attempting to make the longer journey north or abandoning the effort altogether, a strategy that has caused delays for at least some migrants.
Mexico has made notable efforts in recent months to strengthen its immigration enforcement and crack down on attempts to cross its border with the US, including a move in February to deploy troops near the infamous San Judas Break , which is a hole in the border barrier. thousands illegal immigrants They were trying to sneak into the United States from Mexico. In another military operation in February, Mexican troops shut down a popular smuggling point on the San Diego-Tijuana border.
According to a New York Times report, the sudden action came shortly after Biden called Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in late December asking for help at the border, resulting in a delegation led by Secretary of State Antony. Blinken is going to Mexico to meet the Mexican President.
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The report said Mexicans soon began enforcing their own immigration laws more strictly, making it more difficult for migrants to use the country to reach the United States.
Biden administration Lopez issued a joint statement with Obrador detailing a phone call between the two leaders on Sunday, once again touting their continued cooperation with Mexico on the border.
“The two leaders discussed effectively managing hemispheric migration, strengthening operational efficiency along our common border, and thereby improving the security and prosperity of the citizens of both countries,” the statement said. “In the short term, the two leaders ordered their national security teams to work together to immediately implement concrete measures to reduce irregular border crossings while protecting human rights. President Biden and President López Obrador also addressed the root causes “Promised to pursue initiatives to address migration throughout the Western Hemisphere.”
A group of more than 100 migrants attempting to enter the US illegally storm the border wall on Thursday, March 21, 2024. (James Breeden for The New York Post/MEGA)
When contacted for comment by Fox News Digital, a White House spokesperson credited both its continued work with regional partners and “enhanced enforcement efforts by the US government.”
“Even without significant action from Congress, DHS is maximizing its enforcement actions,” the spokesperson said. “Since May 12, DHS has removed or returned more than 690,000 individuals – the majority of whom crossed the southwest border. The 690,000 removals and returns compare to each full fiscal year since 2011. There is more in.”
According to Reese, that sudden collaboration on the border Could be the result of some political agreement.
“I’m sure the Biden administration and Biden himself have probably said to him, ‘Look, do you want me to run for re-election? You don’t want Trump back in office,'” Reese said.
Reese said such a move was not a “free favor”, noting that the Mexican president had asked for $20 billion in aid from the U.S.
That aid was demanded by the Mexican president at a news conference shortly after the first meeting between himself and Biden administration officials, in which López Obrador issued a series of demands, including $20 billion for the U.S. to Latin American and Caribbean countries. Giving was also included. The Mexican President also called on the US to grant work visas to the 10 million Hispanics who have worked in the US for more than 10 years, and for sanctions against Venezuela to be ended. Sanctions with Cuba.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador speaks at a military parade in Mexico City on August 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)
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Curt Mills, executive director of the American Conservatives, also believes the sudden drop in activity at the border is due to Mexican enforcement, telling Fox News Digital that there has been “more effective pressure” on Mexico in recent months.
“This is an administration that essentially ignored this issue for the first part of (Biden’s) term, didn’t think it was an issue, didn’t make it a high priority,” Mills said. The news about the failures of the border administration spread so much that they started taking action.
Reis argued that the administration relying on Mexico to strengthen enforcement allows it to avoid angering progressive allies who oppose stricter border measures, as well as limit the political consequences of the continuing crisis.
“Certainly he’s trying to straddle both sides in an election year,” Reese said. He has to appease his radical left base who want open borders, but he also knows that border security is the number one issue for Americans. There is an issue.” “He needs to improve his range numbers a little bit.”
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Meanwhile, the White House pointed to a failed bipartisan immigration bill as the reason for the disrupted efforts.
“The Administration spent months negotiating in good faith to introduce the toughest and fairest bipartisan border security bill in decades because we need to make critical policy reforms to secure our border and fix our broken immigration system,” the spokesperson said. “Congress is needed to provide additional funding.” , “Congressional Republicans chose partisan politics ahead of our national security and have disregarded what border agents have said.”
Get the latest updates on the ongoing border crisis from the Fox News Digital Immigration Hub.
