US Plans on ‘Going After’ Smugglers Aiding Migrant Surge on Mexico Border: Official

The U.S. government plans in the next 90 days on “going after” smuggling and trafficking organizations that Washington accuses of manipulating migrants into heading for the U.S.-Mexico border, a senior Biden administration official said on Thursday.

The official, who briefed reporters on meetings by U.S. envoys in Mexico City earlier this week, forecast a continuing surge of migrants on the way in “spring caravans.”

The U.S. and Mexican officials discussed ways to improve U.S.-Mexico border enforcement as well as making sure Central American governments have the resources to help secure Mexico’s southern border, the official said on condition of anonymity.

“We see a convergence of interests,” the official said.

The official added a particular emphasis for the U.S. government in the next three months was “going after trafficking organizations and smuggling organizations. … You have organizations that are miscommunicating the 🛂Immigration policies of the United States and for a profit.”

President Joe Biden said he would not apologize for rolling back the hardline 🛂Immigration policies of his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, and brushed off criticism that migrants were making the journey because they perceived him to be a “nice guy.”

Speaking at his first White House news conference, Biden defended his handling of rising migration. While he mostly struck an empathetic tone, he said the United States was expelling the vast majority of migrants under a COVID-19 public health order but that some families had been allowed in because Mexico would not accept their return.

He said the United States was in talks with Mexico for that country to take back more migrant families, many of whom are fleeing violence and poverty in Central America.