U.S. and Mexico will boost deportation flights and enforcement to crack down on illegal migration

President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador are moving swiftly on new steps to crack down on illegal migration that include tougher enforcement on railways, buses and in airports as well as increased repatriation flights for migrants from both the U.S. and Mexico.

The two leaders previewed the measures in a joint statement following a call on Sunday, which centered on their joint efforts to “effectively manage” migration and the U.S.-Mexico border. Biden and López Obrador said they are directing their national security aides to “immediately implement concrete measures” to reduce the number of illegal border crossings.

An administration official said the U.S. and Mexico will increase enforcement measures that would prevent major modes of transportation from being used to facilitate illegal migration to the border, as well as the number of repatriation flights that would return migrants to their home countries. The official, granted anonymity to discuss details that had not been made public, also said the U.S. and Mexico would “respond promptly to disrupt surges.”

The fresh steps come as Biden continues to deliberate whether to take executive action that would further crack down on the number of migrants arriving at the southern U.S. border.

Since the collapse of border legislation in Congress earlier this year, the White House has not ruled out Biden issuing an executive order on asylum rules to try and reduce the number of migrants at the border. Any unilateral action would likely lean on a president’s authority under Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which offers broad powers to block entry of certain immigrants if their entry is deemed detrimental to the national