The Biden-Harris administration is reportedly bracing for the possibility of a migrant surge at the border before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House in January, according to NBC News.
Around Monday afternoon, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas conducted a virtual meeting with the heads of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other top advisors in which concerns were raised about the possibility of a Trump election victory and what that would mean for border security, according to a report from NBC News. Officials reportedly discussed whether a surge in migrants would overwhelm the system and force the administration to release them into the country.
While Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials have not yet witnessed a surge in encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border, the meeting reportedly covered the idea of Trump winning and sparking a massive wave of illegal migrants arriving at the border before a GOP takeover of the White House in January, according to NBC. ICE and CBP officials needed to be prepared for the likelihood of such an event happening, those in the meetings reportedly said.
That possibility inched far closer to reality after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election. The Republican president-elect has so far secured 296 electoral votes, exceeding the 270 needed to win the White House.
As of Thursday morning, Trump also remained on track to win the popular vote with 72 million votes and counting, which would make him the first Republican presidential candidate to do so since former President George W. Bush in 2004.
Trump — who made border enforcement a hallmark of his presidency during his first term — has vowed to conduct sweeping deportations and a crackdown on illegal immigration upon entering office again. The president-elect in October also pledged to create a compensation fund for victims of migrant crime, funded by money seized from migrant gangs such as Tren de Aragua.
U.S. immigration officials experienced record-level encounters under the Biden-Harris administration, with illegal border crossings in fiscal year 2023 and fiscal year 2024 being the worst in history, according to CBP data. The administration was able to trim these numbers down in recent months with a combination of assistance from the Mexican government and the creation of more pathways for migrants to enter the country en masse.
Before the election, migrants standing by in Mexico had already expressed their displeasure at the idea of a Trump victory and voiced their support for Harris, according to interviews on the ground.
“I love Kamala Harris,” a Venezuelan national told the Center for Immigration Studies’ Todd Bensman at the side of a highway in southern Mexico before Election Day, with hundreds of other migrants beside him in both directions. “Donald Trump, no,” the man continued, and reportedly moved his thumb across his neck to simulate a cutting motion.
“We do not like Donald Trump, because he don’t like us,” one Ghanaian migrant said to Bensman, adding that Harris was his preferred option for president. Another Ghanaian stated that “If after Election Day [Harris is elected], we know that everything is good, then we can enter.”
The operator of a shelter on the Mexican side of the border, where migrants wait before they cross into the United States, told NBC News that he expects smugglers to pressure migrants to start heading into the country now.
“Of course, the coyotes will arrive, they are going to say that they need to get in before Donald Trump arrives,” Gustavo Banda, operator of Templo Embajadores de Jesus in Tijuana, reportedly said of the situation.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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