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  4. Border Patrol, Mexican Government Partner to Combat Human Smuggling

Border Patrol, Mexican Government Partner to Combat Human Smuggling

Release Date
Fri, 06/23/2017

TUCSON, Ariz. – Tucson Sector Border Patrol has renewed a longstanding program with Mexico with the implementation of new policy to prosecute human smugglers on both sides of the border.

In an effort to enhance public safety across the southwest, the Border Patrol implemented “Operation Against Smugglers Initiative on Safety and Security” (OASISS) in 2005. The program enables the prosecution of Mexican human smugglers, through Mexican courts, using information obtained via interviews conducted by Border Patrol agents while in U.S. custody.

The program was postponed this past year due to a change in Mexican federal court procedural directives. However, public safety concerns for migrants in northern Mexico prompted a recent bi-national agreement to facilitate OASISS prosecution in Mexican courts.

Working together the Government of Mexico and the U.S. target human smugglers preying on vulnerable migrants along the common border. In fiscal year 2016, Tucson Sector Border Patrol submitted 143 human smugglers to the government of Mexico as OASIS candidates for prosecution in their court system.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Last Modified: Feb 03, 2021