Mexico’s plans for the mass deportation of migrants from the United States move into high gear as local and state officials prepare shelters and supplies.
As inauguration day in the United States nears, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum ramped up preparations to receive the influx of migrant expulsions expected to increase under President-Elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans. In recent days, Mexico announced the launch of a new smartphone panic button for Mexican migrants facing imminent detention by U.S. authorities and plans to open new migrant shelters in Mexican border cities.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, President Sheinbaum held a security meeting with Mexican border state governors earlier in December to prepare for the migrants sent back to Mexico once Trump’s mass deportations begin. Just before Christmas, the planning ramped up to include setting up at least 25 shelters to house migrants sent back to Mexico.
According to an announcement in Tijuana just before Christmas, Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Avila Olmeda told reporters six shelters will likely open in the border city across from San Diego, California. At least two others will open in Mexicali, which borders Calexico, California. Avila told reporters the shelters will be used to house Mexican citizens returned under the deportation operation until they can be sent to their hometowns further inside Mexico.
In addition to the planned opening of migrant shelters, Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Juan Ramon de la Fuente announced in December the creation of a mobile phone application that will include a panic button for migrants who believe they face imminent detention by U.S. immigration authorities. According to De La Fuente, the phone application will launch sometime in January.
The application will alert the migrant’s relatives and Mexican Consul officials of the detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. Currently in its testing phase, the application will also include information about call centers where migrants can receive immigration-related information.
A source within Customs and Border Protection (CBP), not authorized to speak to the media, says authorities in Mexico are wise to begin planning for the reception of migrants through a myriad of removal programs likely to take shape after President-Elect Trump’s inauguration on January 20. However, the citizens of Mexico being returned may not pose the problem Sheinbaum thinks is coming.
“Judging by what we have seen from cities in the interior of the United States, migrants from Mexico aren’t posing quite the problems that those from other countries are posing,” the CBP source explained. “Based on security threats alone, Venezuelan gang members, known criminals, and poorly vetted Special Interest Aliens are likely to be the first expelled to Mexico. Most won’t be citizens of Mexico.”
If history repeats itself, Mexico could receive thousands of migrants daily at ports of entry across the southwest border. The Migrant Protection Protocol, also known as the Remain in Mexico program began in January 2019 and was used during the first Trump administration to return nearly 70,000 migrants to Mexico. The migrants were forced to wait in Mexico rather than be released into the United States to await their asylum hearing. With few exceptions, the migrants remained in Mexican border cities, requiring local authorities to provide shelter and food during the lengthy removal process.
Mexico’s planning reflects the realization that the mass deportations will likely involve migrants from outside Mexico, who will present additional challenges. Sheinbaum has asked the United States to limit expulsions to Mexican nationals only. On Thursday, during questioning at her daily morning press conference, Sheinbaum told reporters her Foreign Affairs Secretary Juan Ramon de la Fuente was also working with other countries whose citizens traverse through Mexico to reach the United States to have them receive their citizens directly. According to the source within CBP, that may be wishful thinking if the Remain in Mexico program is reinstituted.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
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