Mexico’s ambitious plan to prepare to receive its citizens deported from the United States

Mexico’s plan to receive thousands of its citizens deported from the United States is nothing short of ambitious. Plans are being made to build nine reception centers along the border – huge tents pitched in parking lots, stadiums and warehouses – with mobile kitchens run by the armed forces.

Details of the initiative — called “Mexico Hugs You” — were only revealed this week, though Mexican officials said they had been devising it over the past few months, since Donald Trump pledged to conduct the largest expulsion of illegal immigrants in the United States. date.

Nearly every branch of government — 34 federal agencies and 16 state governments — is expected to be involved in one way or another: busing people to their hometowns, organizing logistics, providing medical care, and enrolling newly returned people in welfare programs like pensions and paid vocational training. The reward. In addition to distributing cash cards worth about $100 each.

Officials say they are also negotiating agreements with Mexican companies to connect people with jobs.

“We are ready to receive you on this side of the border,” Mexican Interior Minister Rosa Aisela Rodriguez said at a news conference this week. “Repatriation is an opportunity to return home and reunite with the family.”

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called the expected large-scale deportations a “unilateral move” and said she did not agree with it. But as the country with the largest number of unauthorized citizens living in the United States – and An estimated four million people Starting in 2022 – Mexico finds itself obligated to prepare.

The government’s plan focuses on Mexicans deported from the United States, although the president has indicated that the country could temporarily receive foreign deportees as well.

Mexico is not alone in its preparation: Guatemala, its southern neighbor that also has a large population undocumented in the United States, recently took action. It proposed a plan to accommodate its deportees.

While the Mexican Foreign Minister spoke by phone with new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week about immigration and security issues, Mexico and other countries in the region said they… She was not briefed by the Trump administration regarding deportation plans, leaving them scrambling in the absence of any details.

“The return of Donald Trump makes Mexico ill-prepared for these scenarios,” said Sergio Luna, who works with the Migrant Defense Organizations Monitoring Network, a Mexican coalition of 23 shelters, migrant homes and organizations spread across the country.

“We cannot continue to respond to emergencies with programs that may have good intentions but fall completely short,” Mr. Luna said. “What this shows is that for decades Mexico has benefited from Mexican immigrants through remittances, but has consigned this population to oblivion.”

Furthermore, while the government has a fleet of 100 buses to return deportees to their home states, many fled those places primarily to escape violence and lack of opportunities.

Other experts have questioned whether the Mexican government is truly prepared to deal with the long-term trauma that deportations and family separations could cause.

“These people will return and their return will have an impact on their mental health,” said Camelia Tigao, a migration researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Even with the new facilities, existing shelters — often small and underfunded — may be hard-pressed to serve large numbers of recently arrived people alongside the usual population of migrants from the South hoping to cross the U.S. border, although Shelter operators say the number of migrants has increased It decreased significantly In recent months.

“We cannot prepare because we do not have the financial resources,” said Gabriela Hernandez, director of the Casa Tochan shelter in Mexico City, adding that her team relies mostly on donations from ordinary citizens. “So we consider this an emergency. It’s like an earthquake.”

Other shelter operators in Mexico City said they did not receive additional support from the government.

The capital, Mexico City, will likely eventually receive many returnees. Studies show that when they are deported, people often do not settle in their hometown, however Moving to major cities.

“It is a good thing that the Mexican government is planning the initial reception,” said Claudia Masferrer, a migration researcher who has studied the dynamics and ramifications of returns from the United States to Mexico. “It is important to think about what will happen next, in the following months,” she added.

Officials intend to create new shelters and nearly triple the capital’s capacity to house migrants and deportees — to more than 3,000 from about 1,300, Temistocles Villanueva, head of Mexico City’s human mobility department, said in an interview.

Those who work with migrants and deportees also worry that Mexico and other countries in the region could be hampered in their efforts to receive large numbers of people if the Trump administration decides – Stop spending foreign aidMr. Rubio also said on Tuesday that he had begun doing so, following an executive order signed by Mr. Trump on Monday.

“This could translate into a crisis, or at least a temporary weakening of these humanitarian aid support networks,” Mr. Luna said.

The United States is The biggest financier For example, the United Nations International Organization for Migration, which currently provides many services to migrants and deportees, starting with the health kits that people receive when they disembark from deportation flights.

The organization, which is cooperating with the Mexican government in the “Mexico Hugs You” plan, declined to comment.

In a telegram sent Speaking to State Department staff on Tuesday, Mr. Rubio specifically mentioned immigration in relation to foreign aid. In the past, this aid also went to programs aimed at alleviating hunger, disease and wartime suffering.

Rubio said in his telegram that “mass migration is the most important issue of our time” and that the department would no longer take actions that would “facilitate or encourage it.”

He added that diplomacy, especially in the Western Hemisphere, will “prioritize securing America’s borders.”

Ms. Sheinbaum has He pointed out That Mexico can receive non-Mexican deportees. And yet she said it Her government planned a “voluntary” return. Any non-Mexican citizens – including those awaiting asylum hearings in the United States – to their countries of origin.

She said the issue of who would pay for their return was on the list of topics she planned to discuss with US government officials.