Attorney General Moody Releases DHS Document Showing President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas Know Drug Cartels are Controlling Illegal Migration and Profiting from the Chaos at the Southwest Border

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Following the congressional testimony of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas claiming the Biden administration’s unlawful policies are not contributing to the influx of unvetted migrants, Attorney General Ashley Moody is releasing a federal document debunking that claim. The DHS document shows that the Biden administration has knowledge that its policies are encouraging mass migration. The document also reveals that the Biden administration continues to undermine public-safety immigration laws, while knowing that Mexican drug cartels are facilitating the surge at the southwest border to charge migrants for safe passage in order to “feed cartel violence in Mexico and along the border.”

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “This is a shocking discovery. It contradicts what the Biden administration has been telling the American people and shows that the Mexican drug cartels are profiting off the mass migration of unvetted immigrants to fund an increase in violence at the border.

“We are in the midst of a national opioid crisis and the deadliest drugs are being smuggled into our country from Mexico. President Biden knows this, yet he continues to double down on his terrible immigration policies knowing full well these policies are emboldening and enriching the very drug cartels who are profiting off the deaths of thousands of Americans.”

In the document titled “U.S. Customs and Border Protection Overview of the Southwest Border,” CBP officials describe the role that drug cartels and other transnational, organized-crime networks play in the influx of migrants. The document states: “…we assess that smuggling networks are very active in promoting the flow of migrants through Mexico as drug trafficking organizations maintain control of the primary trafficking corridors into the United States. The drug trafficking organizations’ control of these corridors allows them to regulate the flow of migrants as well as charge migrants a ‘tax’…for the right to pass through the corridors.”

Additionally, the document shows that CBP and DHS officials know that the drug cartels are creating and exploiting the flow of migrants to fund their illicit businesses. As the document states: “Transnational criminal organizations will exploit migration flows and entrench themselves in the smuggling cycle. TCOs endanger vulnerable individuals, amass illicit profits that feed cartel violence in Mexico and along the border, and create a volatile border environment.”

The document also proves that the Biden administration knows that its disastrous border policies are responsible for the influx of illegal migrants: “Irregular migration flows, in part…by transnational organized crime networks have and will likely increase in fiscal year 2021 as economic opportunities emerge and migrant perceptions of U.S. immigration policies shift.”

Finally, the document shows that while CBP and DHS officials have “initiated contingency planning in anticipation of a potential surge of illegal migration,” the implementation of several recent Biden administration policies, namely “the pause in the use of removal pathways such as the Migrant Protection Protocols, Asylum Cooperation Agreements, and Prompt Asylum Claim Review,” is hindering CBP’s ability to expeditiously process and remove migrants encountered.

To view the full document, click here.

CBP encounters with illegal migrants at the U.S. southwest border totaled nearly 2.5 million since February 2021, with deportations down 70% last year.

Recently, Attorney General Moody, along with a coalition of 13 other states, took legal action against the Biden administration over the unlawful Asylum Rule, which largely removes federal immigration judges from the asylum review process, and instead gives officers within DHS unprecedented authority. The new policy not only violates federal laws and bypasses Congress, but also drastically erodes asylum integrity safeguards. To learn more, click here.

In April, Attorney General Moody took action to ensure the Title 42 order remains in place. In a multistate complaint with 20 other attorneys general, Attorney General Moody argued that the termination of the order would spur a mass immigration event and overwhelm authorities. To read more about the complaint, click here.

A U.S. District Court judge ruled in favor of the attorneys general and issued a restraining order to keep Title 42 in place.

To view the TRO, click here.

Attorney General Moody also led 13 attorneys general in calling for Secretary Mayorkas’s resignation. Citing the continued failure to enforce federal law, the attorneys general demanded Secretary Mayorkas leave office as his failed leadership has resulted in a disaster at the southwest border, putting the nation on the verge of a national security crisis. To learn more, click here.