Gallego Urges Biden Administration to Crack Down on Foreign Travel Agencies Fueling Migrant Surge Overwhelming Southern Border
Recently, CBP Has Sounded the Alarm on These Pseudo-Legitimate Travel Agencies
PHOENIX, AZ – Today, Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-03) sent a letter to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas urging the Administration to crack down on foreign travel agencies that advertise travel packages that include transportation to our Southern border, often through human smuggling organizations. Rep. Gallego also sent a copy of the letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“Last year saw a significant increase in individuals whose countries of origin are outside of the Western Hemisphere, also known as ‘extracontinentals’…According to recent reports, travel agencies in some of these countries of origin are advertising travel packages that include flights, connections to smuggling organizations, and transportation from cities in Mexico to the border,” Gallego wrote.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has sounded the alarm on these pseudo-legitimate travel agencies. “These smugglers are recklessly putting migrants in harm’s way, in remote locations across the border, onto the tops of trains, or into the water of the Rio Grande River,” Troy Miller, CBP’s Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner said.
Gallego continues, “While there has been increased effort to combat the bus lines and organized smuggling efforts in Mexico, you should also take steps to uncover and, wherever possible, shut down illegitimate travel agencies that are de-facto fronts for organized smuggling operations to the border. This includes, to the extent you are not already doing so, reporting on the processes through which extracontinentals arrive at the border, identifying the ‘travel agencies’ and individuals behind these operations, and monitoring financial transactions.”
Full text of the letter can be found HERE.
Last week, Rep. Gallego visited Nogales, Bisbee, and Tucson where he met with local leaders, nonprofit officials, and representatives from CBP to discuss the impact of increased migration on Arizona’s border communities.
Also last week, Rep. Gallego called on the Biden Administration to issue an emergency declaration for the Southwest Border to provide Arizona’s border communities and nonprofits the resources they need to humanely process the increased number of arrivals at the border.