The Biden administration has reached a deal with the Mexican government that for the first time will allow U.S. authorities to deport non-Mexican migrants who entered the United States illegally back across the border, according to a joint statement by both nations issued late Tuesday.

U.S. authorities view the agreement as a breakthrough, giving them a powerful enforcement tool as they contend with soaring numbers of migrants crossing into the United States ahead of the White House’s plan to lift pandemic-era border restrictions on May 11.

[Not for the first time, not even in the non-Title 42 sense. Trump imposed this policy on Mexico after a brief threat of a trade war. Mexico never fully agreed to it but ended up stuck with the policy, and then the COVID pandemic broadened the policy under Title 42. — Ed]