Todd Bensman, a senior national security fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, reported from the U.S.-Mexico border on Wednesday, writing that Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security was coordinating with Mexican authorities via Whatsapp to let them know when to send illegal immigrants across the Rio Grande.
As Title 42 expires today, Bensman drove across the southern border and headed to the city of Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas.
At the border, Bensman met a lot of hopeful immigrants from Venezuela who were anxiously waiting to see what would happen as Title 42 comes to an end. Others, however, were not waiting and have been crossing the border at a rate of 10,000 a day.
While observing the border crossings, Bensman noticed a curious pattern of events. He realized that, at the signal of the Mexican immigration officers, a group of about 100-150 illegal immigrants would suddenly rush across the river toward the U.S.
Just another small turn of the screw in the greatest ever mass migration crisis in US – and world – history. pic.twitter.com/hm3PPPUCXK
— Todd Bensman (@BensmanTodd) May 10, 2023
After speaking with several immigration officers, Bensman discovered that DHS was coordinating the movement of these groups through an encrypted Whatsapp channel.
An officer explained to Bensman that they were in touch with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.
“We’re letting them know that there’s a group of people ready to cross,” said a Mexican immigration officer.
You can see Mexican immigration leading this group to the river today as part of their secret WhatsApp coordination with Biden’s DHS as I reported @CIS_org yesterday, but texas screwed this up by having a national guard tactical team block them on the bank.Vid by @jwbr77 pic.twitter.com/ZegYj3heIq
— Todd Bensman (@BensmanTodd) May 11, 2023
Bensman reported that the goal of this operation is to build a “controlled-flow system most often used, controversially, by Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica, to facilitate mass illegal migration to the U.S. border rather than incur the expense and trouble of blocking it in those countries.”