President Donald Trump's negotiations with Mexico and threats of enacting tariffs haveresulted in a swift change in keeping caravans of immigrants from making their trips north, Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan said Monday.
"The reason why we are seeing a reason now is because of the president's strategies which included negotiations with the government of Mexico as well as the northern triangle countries and the countries have stepped up in unprecedented ways to join together with the United States and address this as the regional crisis it is," Morgan said on Fox News' "Fox & Friends."
His comments came in reaction to reports about Mexican officials stopping immigrants at its southern border, and he said the footage shows "absolutely" that Mexico will "continue to do what they have to stop and deny, impede this caravan."
Meanwhile, seizures of illegal drugs have increased at the border, and that means there is more than an illegal immigration crisis, but also a national security threat, Morgan said.
"We need additional resources like technology and the wall," Morgan said. "The wall is not to stop illegal immigration; it's to stop the drugs that are pouring into this country. Last year, over 70,000 people died from drug overdoses. That's more than the entire Vietnam War. We need to do everything we can to stop drugs from pouring into this country."
The interceptions of drugs are up at the border both because of increased attempts to move drugs and because of tighter security.
With every mile of the new border wall that is built, the operational capacity to impede "bad things and bad people" from coming into the country increases, Morgan said.
"I'm confident we will get 450 miles in strategic locations, and I'm confident of that because of this president, we will get additional miles that we need to safeguard or borders," he added.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.