Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday announced that she was expanding a joint task force that combats human trafficking and smuggling to now cover the United States’ northern and maritime borders.
Joint Task Force Alpha was created in 2021 and is a partnership between the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security to help catch human smuggling and trafficking groups operating in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia, Panama and Honduras who are trying to bring people into the United States.
Bondi said in a press conference that too many people are dying during human smuggling and trafficking operations and that she is expanding the task force with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to cover more ground.Â
The leaders are also bringing in additional law enforcement officers to help boost manpower, including by bringing in agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the FBI.
“These operations are getting people killed,” Bondi said. “The cost of human smuggling is huge. So many families are dying … Let me be clear. If you smuggle human beings, you will be found, you will be prosecuted, and you will be brought to justice.”
Bondi said the Justice Department has already charged 56 defendants through the task force since January, including suspects who allegedly drugged children in order to move them into the United States.
Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.
