The operation resulted in the arrest of two dozen Guatemalans for human trafficking, as well as the seizure of more than $150,000 and other contraband. ICE also announced that it had illegally rescued 70 migrants to the country from Ecuador, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Venezuela from hotels in Guatemala City.
“The enforcement action we are taking against vicious smuggling organizations that prey on other vulnerable individuals is unprecedented in scope and scale,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayankas said in a statement. “This dismantling through our security investigations is a stark example of the thousands of moves we have made to date. Our efforts are made in partnership with other departments of the federal government and, more importantly, also through increased collaboration with our foreign partners.
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Of the other 24 people arrested, seven were Guatemalan police officers who, according to ICE, facilitated smuggling and were investigated through the Guatemalan Police’s Internal Affairs Unit.
ICE Acting Director Tae Johnson called human trafficking a “heinous crime” and said the company “will continue to exhaust all available resources to bring perpetrators to justice. “
HSI, which is independent of ICE’s control and repression operations, introduced an operation last year into Guatemalan smuggling networks. This operation revealed a number of networks operating in various hotels.
There were more than 2. 3 million migrant encounters at the southern border last year, and much of this is facilitated through criminal organizations and cartels operating on the border and Central America.
The Biden administration has followed a border technique that targets the “root causes” of migration in the hemisphere. Part of that strategy is cracking down on human trafficking, and she has touted an anti-trafficking operation this year that has resulted in thousands. arrests and the dismantling of more than 5,000 trafficking operations.
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The announcement of Operation ICE comes weeks after Biden’s administration announced greater cooperation with Mexico on immigration.
The full-scale border crossing will see more checkpoints, collaboration between countries in terms of people smuggling operations, and increased resources and personnel.
Officials said the crusade would also see more data shared between the two countries on how transnational criminal organizations use hideouts and places to collect and send migrants to Mexico and the United States.
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The move is accompanied by a questionable extension of Title 42 returns for Venezuelan citizens, whose numbers have particularly increased in recent months but had not been withdrawn in the past under the Trump-era order due to Mexico’s refusal to accept them.
Adam Shaw is a political reporter for Fox News Digital, which covers immigration and border security.
He can be reached on adam. shaw2@fox. com or on Twitter.