Mexico, Guatemala beef up border enforcement after Title 42 ends, US official says

"And in recent days, we have seen Mexico and Guatemala deploying large numbers of law enforcement and military personnel to their southern borders," Nunez-Neto said. He added that Panama and Colombia were "undertaking an unprecedented joint effort to attack smuggling networks operating in the area." Nunez-Neto said the U.S. has averaged below 5,000 encounters per day with migrants trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally over the last three days. That figure topped 10,000 daily last week ahead of Title 42's expiry, according to DHS figures.

(Adds quotes from DHS official throughout) WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) -

Mexico and Guatemala are beefing up their southern borders with military personnel, while Panama and Colombia are working to clamp down on smuggling networks after a key U.S. border policy expired last week, a top U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official said on Monday. Speaking to reporters, DHS official Blas Nunez-Neto said immigration authorities had returned hundreds of people to Mexico since the expiration of Title 42 on Thursday, when the U.S. shifted to a new asylum policy meant to deter illegal crossings.

The returns to Mexico included Cubans, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, he said, who Mexico has agreed to continue accepting. "And in recent days, we have seen Mexico and Guatemala deploying large numbers of law enforcement and military personnel to their southern borders," Nunez-Neto said.

He added that Panama and Colombia were "undertaking an unprecedented joint effort to attack smuggling networks operating in the area." Nunez-Neto said the U.S. has averaged below 5,000 encounters per day with migrants trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally over the last three days.

That figure topped 10,000 daily last week ahead of Title 42's expiry, according to DHS figures.

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