Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Planet Money Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Biden-era human smuggling task force expands under Trump administration changes The Trump administration has expanded one program launched during the Biden administration: an effort to crack down on human smuggling networks. National Biden-era human smuggling task force expands under Trump administration changes June 3, 20264:43 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered Ryan Lucas Biden-era human smuggling task force expands under Trump administration changes Listen · 3:07 3:07 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5835289/nx-s1-9796307" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript The Trump administration has expanded one program launched during the Biden administration: an effort to crack down on human smuggling networks. Sponsor Message
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Under this Trump administration, the Justice Department has pushed out or fired dozens of career prosecutors and FBI agents. It's rescinded gun regulations, overhauled policies and shuttered task forces. One thing that has survived the turmoil is Joint Task Force Alpha, an effort launched during the Biden administration to crack down on human smuggling networks. NPR's Ryan Lucas reports.
RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE: Joint Task Force Alpha was launched in the summer of 2021 by the Biden Justice Department to go after the leaders, organizers and facilitators of human smuggling along the southern border. After President Trump returned to office, the Justice Department doubled down on the effort last September when then-Attorney General Pam Bondi made this announcement.
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PAM BONDI: We are now expanding Joint Task Force Alpha. The task force will now cover our northern border in Canada, of course, and all of our maritime borders.
LUCAS: The decision fit with the Trump administration's broader immigration crackdown.
TYSEN DUVA: It fits within the Take Back America approach, which is targeting the cartels and transnational criminal organizations.
LUCAS: Assistant Attorney General Tysen Duva leads the Justice Department's Criminal Division, which oversees the task force.
DUVA: These groups don't just sell drugs. They do anything that makes money, and they will do anything that makes money off the back of other human beings.
LUCAS: That includes smuggling and trafficking people into the United States. In an interview with NPR, Duva says, over the past five years, Joint Task Force Alpha has brought charges against more than 400 defendants. One of them was Ofelia Hernandez Salas, who was sentenced last month to 11 years in prison for smuggling hundreds of people from around the world into the U.S. She and her coconspirators also robbed the migrants of their money and cell phones right before sending them across the southern border.
On the northern border, Duva points to a recent case against Timothy Oakes, a dual Canadian American citizen who pleaded guilty last month to human smuggling. The charges against Oakes stem from an incident involving two families, including one from Romania with two small children. On a cold, windy evening in March 2023, they tried to cross the St. Lawrence River from Canada into the U.S. by boat.
DUVA: So at night, coming across the St. Lawrence River, the boat capsizes, and the families die, including the 2- and the 3-year-old. Timothy Oakes' brother was the captain of the boat. He died as well. So just a tragic, tragic incident.
LUCAS: While there's no indication that cartels were involved in the Oakes case, Duva says what he calls investigative instincts indicate that they are involved in human smuggling on the northern border. There are flights to Montreal from Mexico and elsewhere, he says, and he argues that organized criminal groups are working to smuggle people via that route, as well.
DUVA: What we're working on is to pin that down. I think that's the next step on the northern border - of exactly who is doing this, who's more prevalent than others?
LUCAS: As Joint Task Force Alpha pursues more cases on the northern border, Duva says, investigators will be mapping out those networks and how they work. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington. Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{1169:function(e,n,c){e.exports=c(321)},321:function(e,n,c){"use strict";c.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([c.e(1),c.e(2),c.e(3),c.e(4),c.e(82)]).then(function(e){c(3),c(1141),c(116),c(95),c(52),c(491),c(240),c(102),c(104),c(1142),c(144),c(1143),c(239),c(48),c(1144)}.bind(null,c)).catch(c.oe)}},[[1169,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();