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Smugglers are reportedly encouraging migrants to rush to the United States before President-elect Donald Trump returns to power, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Smugglers are telling migrants across Latin America that now is the time to reach the U.S. southern border before Trump takes office and embarks on his hardline immigration agenda. according to a WSJ report. Officials on the U.S. side of the southern border told the Daily Caller News Foundation they are preparing for the possibility of a last-minute surge of migrants before Inauguration Day.

“I am deeply concerned about the possibility of a surge at our southern border as we approach the end of President Biden’s term,” San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, who represents a district near of the border between California and Mexico. “As the Trump administration signals that it will prioritize tougher immigration enforcement, many people seeking to enter the United States illegally will likely attempt to do so before these policies are enacted. »

“Right now, we are already seeing between 800 and 1,000 people entering our region daily, which is creating enormous pressure on our resources, services and communities,” Desmond continued. “This influx overwhelms local infrastructure and endangers the well-being of residents. »

Near the Darien Gap – a vast jungle region spread across the Panama-Colombia border, where thousands of U.S.-bound migrants cross each year — one smuggler told migrants he anticipated more expulsions under the Trump administration, post says from the WhatsApp group reviewed by the WSJ.

“There were four WhatsApp groups in which hundreds of migrants were coordinating their departure on the day of the US election,” Luis Villagrán, a Mexican migrant advocate who helps organize caravans in Tapachula, told WSJ.

“As soon as Trump’s victory became clear, fear-mongering messages began to appear,” Villagrán said.

In a statement to DCNF, a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokesperson said the agency remains vigilant in the face of ever-changing migration patterns and urged migrants to “not believe in lies” of the smugglers.

“The fact remains: The United States continues to enforce immigration law. Individuals who enter the United States illegally between ports of entry will continue to be expeditiously expelled,” the CBP spokesperson said.

Upon taking office, President Joe Biden committed 296 executive actions on immigration, with 89 of these orders specifically reversing or beginning the process of reversing Trump’s immigration policies. The Biden-Harris administration subsequently reversed a number of major Trump-era border security initiatives, such as ending construction of the border wall and halting the Remain in Mexico program.

The result has been a historic flow of illegal immigration across the southern border. The number of illegal border crossings in fiscal year 2024 was the second worst in U.S. history – surpassed only by fiscal year 2023, according to data tracked by CBP.

There were approximately 8.5 million migrant encounters along the U.S.-Mexico border during this period. the four exercises of the Biden-Harris administration.

Trump, who is expected to return to office in January, has been very clear about his immigration control platform during the election campaign.

The president-elect pledged to continue building the U.S.-Mexico border wall, restart the Remain in Mexico program, hire more Border Patrol agents and embark on the “largest program expulsion from American history. He also pledged to end citizenship rights for people born on U.S. soil to illegal immigrant parents.

The new administration appears poised to continue this hard-line agenda given the choices so far to lead key immigration enforcement functions. The White House transition team tapped former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan will be border czar, Stephen Miller will be deputy chief of staff for policy, and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem will lead the department of Homeland Security.

Human smugglers and migrants south of the border appear to be paying attention to the American political scene. At least some migrants are now reportedly abandoning the idea of ​​making appointments with U.S. officials to seek asylum and joining caravans heading north to the border.

“More than 20 friends decided not to wait for a meeting and joined the caravan,” Alfonso Meléndez, a 24-year-old Venezuelan national who arrived in southern Mexico in late September, told WSJ.

“I’m very worried that they’re going to kick us out when Trump takes office,” he continued.

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