In a way, Mexico has built a “wall” against illegal immigrants heading to the United States.
According to Latin American officials, Mexico has joined the U.S. battle against migrating Central Americans by stopping them at its southern border and elsewhere and deporting tens of thousands back home.
A new analysis of immigration numbers said that Mexico has boosted deportations by 63% so far this year.
La Prensa, the main newspaper in Honduras, quoted the Guatemalan Migration Institute which said that 102,314 Central American migrants from the countries of Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua have been deported from Mexico to Guatemala. In the same period last year, the number was 62,746.
The Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies, in analyzing the report, said, “The summer months in Mexico have witnessed large increases and improvements of border security, interior enforcement, and deportations of migrants.”
Border crossings into the U.S. have slowed for three months, and U.S. officials have given partial credit to Mexico, which has increased illegal immigration protection on its northern and southern borders.
In addition, Guatemala has agreed to cooperate and take some of those heading to the U.S. but stopped in Mexico.
The U.S. has also stepped up deportations of Guatemalans by 8%, said the center’s report.
“The importance of Mexico enforcing its immigration laws can’t be overstated. They have deported more citizens of those four Central Americans in the last eight months than we deported all of last year. They are doing a job that Congress and illegal immigration enthusiasts don’t want our agencies to do,” said Jessica M. Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies.
She told Secrets, “This is helpful because it nips the problem closer to the source countries, before the migrants have become too invested in the journey, and sends a swift message to those who stayed behind, that trying to come illegally by land is not worth the risk. This is happening because President Trump was not going to let Mexico getaway with looking the other way and because Mexico’s President Lopez Obrador recognizes that the Central American influx was a big problem for Mexico too.”
Source: la prensa, el heraldo, washington examiner
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