Immigration activist groups are expressing their concern with the Biden administration’s announcement that it will start expelling Venezuelans to Mexico using the Title 42 public health order -- reducing entry pathways to a limited parole program.

The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday that it is launching a new large-scale border enforcement operation with Mexico that includes increased checkpoints, a surge in resources and a crackdown on human smuggling. 

The administration also announced that all Venezuelans entering the U.S. illegally would now be returned to Mexico under the Title 42 public health order -- which was implemented during the Trump administration due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The order allows for the rapid expulsion of migrants and is one that the Biden administration has been seeking to end, but has been stopped by a legal challenge.

There were more than 25,000 encounters of Venezuelan migrants in August, up from just 4,000 in April. Last August, there were just over 6,000 migrant encounters from Venezuela. It comes as part of a massive flow of migrants that has seen more than 2.1 million encounters this fiscal year.