Federal law enforcement officials have identified a high number of individuals with Middle Eastern names traveling with Mexican passports, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security memo obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Since the beginning of 2022, nearly 30,000 Mexican passport holders were flagged as part of the investigation into passport fraud, the memo states, adding that each identified individual will be further evaluated.
A senior official at DHS who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the agency will likely investigate whether any of the individuals have traveled to the United States and whether there are any other patterns in their travel.
DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said last year that the United States risks losing its "First line of defense" because of the "Unsustainable" amount of illegal immigration at the border.
Law enforcement officials appear concerned that bad actors could abuse the legal travel system to enter the country with passports obtained from Mexico, and enter the United States legally.
Roughly 20 million Mexican citizens easily travel to the United States as tourists each year, according to the U.S. Travel Association.
The agency uses naming conventions specific to different regions to automatically pinpoint the most likely nationality of individuals-in Mexico, for example, individuals typically keep two surnames, one from each parent.
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