The United States government plans to deploy additional migration agents along the southern border to detain individuals without legal status who attempt to travel to Mexico voluntarily during the Christmas and New Year holiday period, according to reports published by U.S. media outlets.
Increased inspections at border crossings and commercial transport
The operation will include reinforced inspections carried out by agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). These actions will not be limited to official border crossings, as they will also involve inspections on commercial buses and other forms of transportation heading toward the southern border.
According to The Huffington Post, the measures are part of a preventive strategy in response to the increase in cross-border mobility typically recorded during the end-of-year holidays, when many people travel between the United States and Mexico for family or personal reasons.
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Internal Department of Homeland Security memorandum
The outlet cited an internal memorandum from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has not been made public. The document reportedly outlines guidelines to distinguish between migrants with criminal records and those without such histories.
Individuals with criminal backgrounds will be “processed according to their current immigration cases,” suggesting they could be taken into custody and referred to formal deportation proceedings. Those without criminal records would be subject to different procedures, although authorities have not specified the exact criteria or outcomes in those cases.
Border security policy and migration context
A DHS spokesperson stated that the main objective of the operation is to strengthen migration controls and ensure accurate monitoring of who enters and exits the country. “It is common sense that we must know who enters and who leaves our country,” the official said.
The Department of Homeland Security also indicated that the operation aligns with the border security policies implemented during former President Donald Trump’s administration. “Under President Trump’s mandate, DHS secured our borders and ports to ensure that no undocumented immigrant enters or leaves the United States without proper inspection,” the spokesperson added.
