While Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas repeats false claims that the U.S.-Mexico "border is closed" and the number of illegal immigrants unlawfully crossing into the country in one day reaches an all-time high of more than 10,000, a new report says that some of the chaos is actually being managed, though not stopped, by federal officials.
According to Todd Bensman's latest dispatch from Matamoros, Mexico, published by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), there's a "striking level of collusion" taking place between federal border agents and Mexican authorities via "an encrypted online chat room" used "to tell Mexico when to let Migrants swim across" the Rio Grande and unlawfully enter the United States.
From Bensman:
In recent days, large crowds of immigrants have formed on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande fully prepared to swim over well-worn crossing spots to Brownsville – but seemingly held back by unarmed Mexican immigration officials.
Over the course of several recent days in this northeastern Mexican city when perhaps 3,000 immigrants a day swam over to Brownsville with no opposition on either side, a curious pattern became evident. At some sort of signal from the Mexican immigration officers, a group of about 100-150 from the crowd would suddenly stand in unison and rush down the riverbank, past the immigration officers, and swim over to America.
It turns out that this pattern was far from happenstance. The Center for Immigration Studies asked several of the Mexican immigration officers what was going on and learned that President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security has been coordinating these mass swims with Mexico’s immigration service, INM, at high levels on an encrypted Whatsapp channel.
The officers explained that their senior officers were in touch with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials about how many immigrants were gathered and were prepared to cross the river at any given time.
“We’re letting them know that there’s a group of people ready to cross,” one officer explained.
The Americans on the other side would ask the Mexicans to hold back the migrants – not because such crossings are illegal and should be blocked and obstructed, but only until the Americans had finished processing the last batch into the country through Brownsville. Once the Americans felt they could take in more, they message the Mexicans that “they are ready to receive them.” Then, senior officials would radio the on-ground immigration officers, all of whom are equipped with radios.
Next, the officers signal to the waiting crowd to go forward and, once they figure enough are in the water, they cut off the rest and push and cajole them back into line until the Americans signal they’re ready again.
The Mexican officers said the Americans initiated this system in late April but could only guess at why – perhaps to better manage the processing of very high recent numbers of crossings. But the collaboration explains why Mexican immigration officers are stationed at the river at all, and raises many questions.
CBP did not immediately respond to CIS’s telephoned and emailed messages for comment.
Why on earth does it sound like the Biden administration is working to create a DMV-style "take a number" waiting room system to continue allowing record numbers of illegal immigrants into the country where they are (sometimes) processed and (rarely) seen again?
As Bensman noted, this apparently coordinated timing setup is similar to the "controlled-flow" systems used by countries such as Columbia, Panama, and Costa Rica "to facilitate mass illegal migration to the U.S. border rather than incur the expense and trouble of blocking it in those countries."
That is, the Biden administration is turning the United States' southern border into just another pass-through point where the international boundary is not enforced and illegal immigrants can continue their unobstructed, though perilous, journey into the country.
Still, this system of "collusion" likely won't help prevent the mayhem that's predicted to begin on Thursday night when Title 42 officially expires at 11:59pm ET. Even Mayorkas couldn't shine that reality when he spoke on Wednesday about Biden's "plan" to deal with the end of the pandemic-era removal policy.
Claiming to be "clear-eyed" about the "very difficult" challenges as Title 42 ends, Mayorkas warned of "large numbers of encounters at our southern border in the days and weeks after May 11" and pleaded for Americans to take "into account" the fact that "it will take time" for the results of Biden's supposed plan to handle even more illegal immigrants "to be fully realized."
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