New DHS leader visits the border

EL PASO — The Trump administration will continue to push Mexico to do more to stem the flow of migrants seeking to reach the U.S. border, new acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said Wednesday during his first visit to the southern border since taking the job last week.

Wolf, the fifth DHS secretary since Trump took office in 2017, joined other administration officials in praising Mexico’s efforts to cut northbound migration since a major surge earlier this year. He called the U.S. relationship with Mexico “excellent” and said he expects the country to do more to keep Central Americans from traversing the country on their way to the U.S.

“There continues to be a big push and a big need for them to continue the actions that they’ve taken and to do more,” Wolf said during a news conference at El Paso’s main Border Patrol station. “We always are asking them to do more. We’re always asking our agency to do more.”

Wolf said the Migrant Protection Protocols — also known as the “Remain in Mexico” program — has been successful in keeping tens of thousands of migrants out of the United States while they await immigration court proceedings, alleviating overcrowding of Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities.

Critics in Congress and at the border have said MPP has led to assaults, kidnappings and extortion of migrants who are forced to wait in dangerous Mexican border cities. U.S. courts have allowed the program to continue while opponents challenge it in court.