illegal immigration
“We pray Trump doesn’t win”: 150,000 migrants in Mexico are rushing to the border before the election
From ToddBensman.com
By Todd Bensman as published by The Daily Mail
“I love Kamala Harris,’ a young Venezuelan man declared as he rested on the side of a highway in southern Mexico last week.
His belongings were heaped at his feet. Hundreds of fellow migrants stretched out along the roadway in both directions.
They’re headed for the U.S. and nearly all of them have an opinion about who should be America’s next president.
Donald Trump, no,’ the Venezuelan man said, shaking his head and dragging his thumb across his throat in a slicing motion.
He is one of thousands of migrants – from all over the world – joining a new rush traveling north from southern Mexico toward the U.S. border, less than two weeks before the presidential election.
I went to Tapachula in southwest Mexico near the border with Guatemala to investigate why they were on the move – again.
Throughout 2022 and 2023, massive caravans – some reportedly as large as 6,000-strong – became a common feature of the immigration crisis.
The mass migration became such a humanitarian and public relations disaster for the Biden-Harris Administration that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was dispatched to meet with Mexico’s president in December 2023 to demand that he impose stricter immigration controls.
And the pressure campaign worked.
‘I love Kamala Harris ,’ a young Venezuelan man declared as he rested on the side of a highway in southern Mexico last week. He is one of thousands of migrants – from all over the world – joining a new rush traveling north from southern Mexico toward the U.S. border, less than two weeks before the presidential election. (Above) Migrant caravan near Tapachula, Mexico on October 20, 2024
In January, I reported for DailyMail.com on Mexican police and military roundups near the U.S. border.
Migrants who made it to those northern provinces were detained and shipped hundreds of miles back south to cities like Tapachula in the southwest or Villahermosa near the gulf.
The Mexican media called it ‘Operation Carousel.’
And for nearly 10 months, the caravans stopped.
But now, they’re back on.
The migrants I spoke to on the road this week believe that this may be their last chance.
Many of them hope to reach the U.S. before November 5 because they fear that, if Trump is re-elected, he’ll close the southern border and enforce longstanding immigration laws.
‘If [Trump] wins… one has to do what the government says, [wait] for my turn,’ said Carlos, a Honduran man in a caravan 30 miles north of Tapachula.
In reality, it’s unlikely that these migrants will be able to make the 1,300-mile trek in the next two weeks. But they can try.
And there’s another more complicated reason that the caravans have started back up: The Mexican government is encouraging them.
The caravans that I traveled with were escorted by Mexican National Guard escorts, something that I have witnessed. Perhaps, it not only the migrants growing restless, so, too, are the authorities.
For months, an estimated 150,000 U.S.-bound migrants have been bottled up in increasingly dire conditions in Tapachula, as ever more arrive there from South and Central America.
In fact, the true number massing in southern Mexico may even be in the hundreds of thousands.
I’ve visited Tapachula at least five times over the last decade and I’ve never seen it so crowded. All the hotels and motels are packed. Immigrant shelters are at full capacity.
Those who cannot afford accommodations – including women and children – sleep on the streets and in city parks, packed in like sardines.
Remember this as you hear Vice President Kamala Harris tout new statistics showing a precipitous decline in the number of illegal U.S. border crossings in 2024.
She attributes the positive change to the recent enforcement of U.S. asylum laws. But that’s not the full story.
Even the Department of Homeland Security admitted earlier this month that the drop in illegal US border crossings is due, in part, to, ‘increased Mexican enforcement efforts.’
Indeed, at the White House’s behest, Mexico has been containing these people for months in southern cities like Tapachula and Villahermosa, which have come to resemble sprawling, open-air refugee camps.
Now the situation is becoming untenable.
According to those I’ve spoken to, the Mexican government’s promises to provide travel documents to the migrants have never materialized.
In an apparent recognition of the overcrowding, the U.S. government is now building a new migration processing facility in Tapachula.
Meanwhile, the Mexican government is starting to transfer migrants out of Tapachula into surrounding cities to relieve the growing pressure.
And, the coming election is only heightening tensions.
Incredible drone shows large caravan migrants heading to the US
A group of Ghanaian men in a congested park in Tapachula told me that they feared a Trump presidency.
‘We do not like Donald Trump, because he don’t like us,’ one man said.
To him, Kamala Harris is the preferred option.
Another Ghanian man said he plans to wait for the results of the election, before making his next move: ‘If after election day [Harris is elected], we know that everything is good, then we can enter.’
A group of Ghanaian men in a congested park in Tapachula told me that they feared a Trump presidency. ‘We do not like Donald Trump, because he don’t like us,’ one man said. To him, Kamala Harris is the preferred option.
A middle-aged Venezuelan man also in the park reiterated those fears: ‘We know that if Donald Trump wins, all the migrants will be kicked out the [United States]… we hope that he doesn’t win.’
It is still unclear how far north these migrant caravans will get before America votes – and I suspect that many migrants only wish to escape Tapachula.
But, certainly, it seems likely that after November 5 – Mexico’s newly-elected president will consider her country’s part in ‘Operation Carousel’ to be complete and lift any remaining immigration controls.
That would mean hundreds of thousands of migrants, who have been waiting out the U.S. election in Mexico, may be permitted to – once again – try their luck at crossing illegally into the U.S.
As far as they’re concerned, a Kamala Harris presidency would mean that America’s borders will be thrown open.
If Donald Trump is elected president, their plans may change.
illegal immigration
Trump signs executive order cutting off taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens
MxM News
Quick Hit:
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday night barring illegal immigrants from receiving federally funded benefits, a move he says will ensure taxpayer dollars are reserved for American citizens in need.
Key Details:
- The order directs federal agencies to identify and cut off benefits to illegal immigrants.
- Trump argues the Biden administration “undermined” federal law and improperly expanded benefits to non-citizens.
- The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, is tasked with reviewing all federal funding sources for illegal aliens.
- The order mandates stricter eligibility verification systems and calls for improper payments to be referred to the DOJ and DHS.
Diving Deeper:
President Donald Trump took executive action Wednesday night to block illegal immigrants from receiving taxpayer-funded federal benefits, calling the move necessary to uphold the rule of law and protect resources for American citizens, including veterans and individuals with disabilities.
In signing the order, Trump pointed to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), which was supposed to bar most illegal immigrants from accessing government benefits. However, he argued that multiple administrations—especially President Joe Biden’s—had worked to “undermine” these restrictions, effectively allowing taxpayer funds to support illegal immigration.
“The Biden administration repeatedly undercut the goals of that law, resulting in the improper expenditure of significant taxpayer resources,” Trump said. He further asserted that these benefits had acted as a “magnet” for illegal immigration, drawing more people across the border unlawfully.
The order directs the heads of all federal agencies to identify programs that currently allow illegal aliens to receive taxpayer-funded benefits and to take “all appropriate actions” to bring them in line with federal law. It also aims to prevent federal funds from subsidizing sanctuary policies, which shield illegal immigrants from deportation.
One of the most significant aspects of the order is the role of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a relatively new federal agency led by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk. DOGE is tasked with reviewing all sources of federal funding for illegal immigrants and recommending additional measures to align spending with Trump’s directive. Trump has praised Musk and DOGE for cutting through bureaucratic resistance to implement his policies.
Additionally, the order calls for enhanced eligibility verification systems to prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining benefits in the first place. Federal agencies are also required to refer any improper payments to the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security for further action.
The move is the latest in Trump’s aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration, a central issue of his presidency and his 2024 re-election campaign. With a focus on border security, ending sanctuary policies, and tightening federal spending, Trump’s executive order represents yet another step in his administration’s effort to reverse the policies of his predecessor and enforce strict immigration laws.
MxM News
Quick Hit:
Cartels are intensifying their threats against U.S. Border Patrol and ICE agents, employing increasingly sophisticated tactics, including drones, wireless tracking devices, and potential explosive attacks. As President Donald Trump strengthens border security measures, agents face growing dangers both at and beyond the southern border. Experts warn that these threats are an effort to counteract the administration’s immigration enforcement policies.
Key Details:
- Cartels are using drones and wireless tracking to monitor and potentially attack Border Patrol and ICE agents.
- The discovery of a security risk tied to body cameras has led CBP to suspend their use to prevent agents from being tracked.
- Leaks of ICE raids pose additional threats, increasing the risk of ambushes against agents conducting enforcement operations.
Diving Deeper:
Cartels along the U.S.-Mexico border are becoming more aggressive as President Trump enforces stricter immigration policies, with reports indicating that border agents are facing an escalating range of security threats. Fox News reports that Mexican cartels are leveraging new technology to track and potentially harm Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, emphasized that cartels are feeling the pressure from Trump’s border policies and are resorting to dangerous countermeasures. “The cartels are losing business. The encounters at the border are the lowest they’ve been in decades, and the cartels are not just going to give up that business quietly,” Ries told Fox News.
Among the threats agents face are drones used for surveillance, gunfire from across the border, and even the possibility of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). A recent internal memo warned that cartels might be planning to use snipers positioned in Mexico to attack U.S. agents. Additionally, agents are now vulnerable to tracking through wireless technology, prompting CBP to suspend the use of body-worn cameras after a social media post revealed they could be exploited via Bluetooth scanning apps.
The suspension of body cameras has raised concerns about increased false claims against border agents. Ries warned that “the number of claims of abuse are about to jump to exploit this lack of camera use,” underscoring the challenges agents will face without recorded footage of their encounters.
Beyond external threats from cartels, agents must also contend with internal security risks. Leaks about upcoming ICE raids have made enforcement operations more dangerous, potentially exposing agents to ambushes. Ries noted, “That subjects ICE agents to an ambush… Worse would be if aliens stay here and attack ICE agents, that is a risk.”
To counter these threats, border security experts stress the need for increased congressional funding to provide CBP and ICE agents with enhanced technology, equipment, and manpower. Ries urged lawmakers to act swiftly, stating, “Congress needs to hurry up” to ensure agents have the necessary resources to carry out Trump’s mass deportation efforts and secure the southern border.
As cartels escalate their tactics in response to Trump’s immigration policies, the safety of border agents remains a growing concern, highlighting the urgent need for stronger enforcement and security measures.
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