by Jason Hopkins
According to NBC News, the Biden-Harris administration is preparing for the possibility of a surge of migrants at the border before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House in January.
Around Monday afternoon, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas held a virtual meeting with the heads of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other top advisers, during which concerns were expressed about the possibility of Trump winning the election and what it would mean for security borders, According to report from NBC News. Officials reportedly wondered whether the 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 seen an escalate in encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border, the meeting reportedly touched on the idea of Trump winning and triggering a massive wave of undocumented migrants arriving at the border ahead of the GOP takeover. According to NBC, at the White House in January. ICE and CBP officials must be prepared for the likelihood of such an event, meeting participants said.
This possibility was far-reaching closer to reality after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election. The Republican president-elect has so far won 296 electoral votes, more than the 270 needed to win the White House.
As of Thursday morning, Trump was also on track to win the popular vote, with 72 million votes and counting, making him the first Republican presidential candidate to do so since former President George W. Bush in 2004.
Trump, who has made border enforcement a hallmark of his presidency during his first term, has vowed mass deportations and a crackdown on illegal immigration once he takes office again. Also the president-elect in October he promised to create a compensation fund for victims of migration crimes, financed by money confiscated from migrant gangs such as Tren de Aragua.
US immigration officials experienced record encounters under the Biden-Harris administration, with illegal border crossings in fiscal years 2023 and 2024 being the worst on record, According to CBP data. In recent months, the administration has managed to reduce these numbers with combination aid from the Mexican government and creating more routes for migrants to enter the country Very.
Interviews on the ground show that migrants standing near Mexico had already expressed dissatisfaction with Trump’s victory and expressed support for Harris before the election.
“I love Kamala Harris,” a Venezuelan national told the Center for Immigration Studies’ Todd Bensman on the side of the highway in southern Mexico before Election Day, accompanied by hundreds of other migrants in both directions. “Donald Trump, no,” the man continued and reportedly ran his thumb across his neck, simulating a cutting motion.
“We don’t like Donald Trump because he doesn’t like us,” one Ghanaian migrant told Bensman, adding that his preferred presidential candidate was Harris. Another Ghanaian stated that “If after election day [Harris is elected]we know everything is fine, then we can go in.”
The operator of a shelter on the Mexican side of the border where migrants wait before crossing into the United States told NBC News he expects smugglers will pressure migrants to start arriving in the country now.
“Of course, the coyotes will come and say they need to get in before Donald Trump arrives,” Gustavo Banda, operator of Templo Embajadores de Jesus in Tijuana, reportedly said of the situation.
– – –
Jason Hopkins is a reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo by Todd Bensman.
