The Mexican government is concerned that President Biden’s asylum policies are encouraging illegal immigration and generating revenue for drug cartels through human trafficking on the border with the United States.
Mexico asked the Biden government for help to provide development aid to Central America, as many of the migrants come from countries like Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala in search of asylum in the United States.
“They see him as the migrant president, and many feel they are going to arrive in the United States,” Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said of Biden after his virtual meeting on March 1, according to Reuters.
“We need to work together to regulate the flow, because this business cannot be done overnight,” added Lopez Obrador.
Some of Biden’s policies that concern the Mexican government include a quick process of obtaining citizenship for migrants living in the United States and supporting victims of gang violence.
Internal reviews reviewed by Reuters – based on testimonials and intelligence gathering – say that Mexican gangs have increased their clientele and monitored US measures that encourage migration. In addition, they developed a new tracking system to move migrants across the US-Mexico border.
A Mexican official, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters the cartels had been using sophisticated methods of smuggling “since the day Biden took office.”
These strategies include keeping migrants up to date on the latest immigration rules, using technology to thwart authorities and disguising smuggling operations as travel agencies, according to the assessments.
Reuters also reported that plastic bracelets, some labeled “arrivals” or “entrances” in Spanish, were seen discarded near Penitas, Texas, after illegal immigrants crossed the border.
“Migrants have become a commodity,” the official told the vehicle. “But if a package of drugs is lost at sea, it is gone. If migrants are lost, we are talking about human beings ”.