The negative consequences of President Joe Biden’s immigration initiatives have not only captured the attention of Americans but foreign nations as well. Mexico, in particular, has voiced its concerns and taken matters into its own hands.
According to Reuters, the Mexican government has expressed unease over President Biden’s immigration policies. Since the 46th president took office, America’s southern neighbor has experienced large numbers of U.S.-bound Central American migrants crossings its borders to take advantage of the Biden administration’s loosened asylum policies. Unsurprisingly, Mexico is feeling the adverse effects of being used as a transit nation.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador recently sounded off on the surge of foreign nationals entering his country. President Lopez Obrador urged President Biden to scale back his faulty asylum policies. The Mexican head of state explained the administration’s new immigration procedures have empowered organized crime syndicates in Mexico to profit from human smuggling and trafficking at the U.S.-Mexico border.
To counter the influx of illegal immigration, Mexico’s National Institute of Migration (INM) has increased enforcement operations. The INM has targeted railways and bus lines to apprehend unlawful migrants heading north. Between January 25 and February 16, authorities detained nearly 1,200 illegally present Central Americans along several train routes heading north in central and southern parts of Mexico. This month, an additional 800 migrants were arrested on buses or tractor-trailers to travel north. The Mexican government has also commissioned its military and other law enforcement agencies to assist INM with interior enforcement efforts.
Mexico’s prioritization of interior immigration enforcement should come as no surprise. Last month, the Mexican government sent a warning that prospective migrant caravans from Central America would not be allowed to enter the country. Additionally, the Mexican National Guard has remained on the Mexico-Guatemala border to aid immigration agents with border security duties, such as turning back organized groups of economic migrants attempting to gain entry.
Conversely, the United States has downgraded its interior enforcement and border security under President Biden. His administration issued a memorandum that scales back the arrest and deportation powers of Immigration Customs and Enforcement agents. Additionally, pressure is building on the Southwest border as a result of several issues ranging from scant border agents, inefficient barriers, and rising numbers of border crossings.
It’s truly embarrassing that foreign governments are doing more to stop illegal immigration into the United States than our own government. Unless our current immigration policies change to serve the American people’s interests and safety, the crisis at the southern border will only worsen.