Mexican Border States Brace for Impact as Trump’s Mass Deportation Plan Unfolds

The governors of the northern border states in Mexico began preparing for Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans. Mexico’s president told its governors that they should expect to see migrants deported from the United States by February.

 

Following the December 10 meeting between Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and the 32 governors in the country, border region governors began preparing for mass deportations following Donald Trump’s inauguration. Governor Manolo James-Salinas of Coahuila met with officials from both sides to plan and discuss an influx of migrants coming back to Mexico.

 

Sheinbaum warned the Mexican president, during the Acapulco summit in early December about mass removals. He also urged the border state governors to start preparing. Sheinbaum, according to an article in El Pais (a Spanish-language newspaper), warned northern states about the possibility of mass removals. Nuevo Leon Governor Samuel Garcia stated that the meeting did not discuss a deportation strategy, but instead, that they should be prepared if it begins in February.

 

 

The meeting was attended by Norma Trevino the Mayor of Piedras Negras the border town directly across the Rio Grande River from Eagle Pass in Texas, as well as representatives of the Mexican Army and the Mexican Army National Guard. Also present were representatives of the U.S. Border Patrol. The future coordination between Mexico and the United States at the points of repatriation of deportees who are returned to Mexico under the Trump Administration’s plan for mass removals was a major issue discussed.

 

The meeting focused on the collaboration with Mexican Consuls in the United States, to deal with sensitive cases of unaccompanied children and vulnerable migrants. A source in Customs and Border Protection who is not authorized by the media to speak about the situation at the southwest border has said that it will change quickly after Trump’s inauguration. Mexico authorities should not be surprised.

 

Between the Remain in Mexico Program and the Returns under Title 42, Mexican Border States saw thousands of returns daily. The source stated that they now deal with a trickle. Source: Most of the border officials were in Mexico during the Trump administration, when the situation was different. Thousands of people were sent back to Mexico every day, resulting in the lowest level of crossings ever.

 

 

In January 2019, the Trump administration began using the Migrant Protection Protocols (also known as the Remain in Mexico Program) to return almost 70,000 migrants to Mexico. The returned migrants had to wait in Mexico instead of being released to the United States for their asylum hearing. The migrants, with few exceptions, stayed in Mexican border towns, and local authorities were required to provide food and shelter during the long removal process.

 

According to the source, Title 42, COVID-19 Emergency Removal Authority was used to return nearly 25,000 migrants to Mexico in the first two months following the pandemic Emergency Expulsion Program. This occurred between March and April of 2020. The Mexican authorities are not expecting to see this authority again in the absence of a pandemic. However, the memory of the massive returns of migrants along the southwest border does not fade. The source stressed that it is wise to prepare everyone in Mexico for the coming events.