The federal government is reportedly sending more officers to Cancun to spot individuals who may be trying to enter the U.S. illegally by posing as tourists.
The effort was first reported by CNN, which quoted unnamed sources explaining it was an expansion of an unspecified existing program. The deployment appears to be an expansion of the preclearance program by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, where the agency has officers stationed at specific international airports to pre-screen outbound travelers. Currently, CBP has officers in 16 airports.
Cancun is one of Mexico’s most famous tourist hotspots and is home to one of the country’s largest and busiest airports.
The expansion in Cancun comes at a time when border officials in the U.S. are unable to contain the number of migrants entering the country illegally.
Cancun has been hit with a recent spike in cartel violence as criminal organizations openly fight for control of the local drug distribution market and human smuggling. Cancun is a key point of entry for human trafficking organizations who charge premium prices to get migrants into the U.S.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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