Mexico must assume the restrictive migration policies of the United States, even if it means doing the “dirty work” of its big neighbor, say experts after the death of 39 migrants in the border town Ciudad Juarez.
Beyond the first five arrests Thursday in the investigation for “homicide”, the drama appears as the consequence of the “pressure” of American “politics”, summarizes the specialist in migration issues, Eunice Rendon.
– Why so many migrants in Mexico? –
How many are they? More and more numerous, even if the figure is unrelated to Turkey, which hosts nearly four million refugees and migrants after the civil war in Syria.
“Between January and November 2022” a total of “388,611” people in an irregular situation were registered in Mexico, “up 34.3%” compared to the previous year, according to the government.
After thousands of kilometers, visa-free migrants – including Mexicans – come up against a physical, human (border guards) and legal wall along the approximately 3,000 km border between Mexico and the United States.
Last November alone, US authorities apprehended 206,239 migrants at the border, a record in more than 20 years, according to US research center Pew Research.
63% of them came from countries other than Mexico or the Central American triangle (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras), such as Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Peru and Venezuela.
A total of 32% were deported through the fast track, under Title 42 put in place by Donald Trump in March 2020 under the pretext of a pandemic.
Title 42, which could be lifted in May, has allowed the United States to deport more than two million migrants in three years. Most overland to Mexico.
The Biden administration encourages migrants in Mexico to submit their asylum request through a mobile application (CBP One).
Consequences: foreign migrants live in a dead end in border towns (Tijuana, Juarez, Matamoros), without jobs or resources, sometimes with “mental health” problems according to Rendon.
Hostels and reception centers are overwhelmed and migrants live on the streets, at the risk of friction with local populations.
– What is Mexico doing for the United States? –
Last year, Mexico “again collaborated with the United States to implement measures adopted by its neighbor which undermined the right of asylum and the principle of + non-refoulement +”, accuses the Amnesty report. international appeared these days.
“Mexican authorities have detained at least 281,149 people in overcrowded immigration centers and deported at least 98,299 people,” Amnesty said.
Since 2019, the Mexican government has deployed more than 20,000 troops along its border under threat of economic sanctions from Donald Trump’s government.
When he came to power, the nationalist leftist president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador tried to apply a “more humanist” policy, with the granting of the right of asylum (Mexico registered 118,478 requests in 2022).
His government calls on the United States to tackle the roots of the problem of migration, including poverty, in the countries of departure.
Leading by example, Mexico is funding two international cooperation programs in Honduras and El Salvador, with 40,000 beneficiaries in rural areas.
– And now? –
Other countries are “negotiating” their “bad role” as migration watchdogs, political analyst Carlos Bravo Regidor points out on the ForoTV news channel.
No doubt referring to the agreement signed between the European Union and Turkey in March 2016. Brussels pledged to pay billions of euros to help Turkey welcome 3.5 million Syrians.
The Mexican president was able to make his role profitable during the pandemic, when Mexico received vaccines from the United States.
Migration specialist Rendon suggests that the bilateral agreements between Mexico and the United States in the fight against drug trafficking also translate into “resources” for the authorities and NGOs dealing with migrants.
