Juan Manuel Blanco |
Tapachula (Mexico) (EFE) .- The immigration population that is housed in shelters on the southern border of Mexico has decreased by up to 90 %, due to the hardening of the migratory policies of the US president, Donald Trump, who has threatened with mass deportations during his mandate, said in charge of those centers.
“Now he has dropped a lot, I think that 80 or 90 % of the immigration population (since the arrival of) president of the United States,” Herbert Bermúdez, administrator of the ‘Jesus El Buen Pastor’ hostel, told Efe, one of the largest and oldest in Tapachula.
And he pointed out that the flow of migrants descended “drastic” due to changes in United States immigration policy and the suspension of CBP One, which allowed to make an appointment to enter legally by the border.
Trump came to power supported by an anti -immigration speech, with the promise of closing the doors to those who seek to emigrate or find refuge in the country and to launch the greatest deportation campaign of migrants in the history of the USA.
He also said that currently Mexican immigration authorities no longer allow them to advance people who procedures before the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid (Comar) with the aim of staying in Mexico.
This shelter, in which there were previously up to 1,500 people, currently Bermúdez said, is receiving on average eight people mostly families with children.
New lifestyle and voluntary returns
In that same shelter is Julio César, a migrant from El Salvador, who arrived seven months ago to Tapachula, but said that since Donald Trump withdrew CBP One quotes many people decided to go to their countries, which has caused these places to look almost empty.
“In my case, because of my country’s policies, I can’t return, even if I wanted to,” said the man and said he had never been migrant, but had a problem in El Salvador, who did it come to Mexico.
“I arrived outside the gate and they received me to enter this shelter. I was afraid of staying in the street, that is what this shelter means for me, which became a new lifestyle and refuge,” he said.
For approximately 15 days Cinthia Paola, Migrante de Honduras, has seen little presence of migrants in this shelter since many have risked move towards central Mexico and others have returned to their countries of origin.
The effect of Trump’s measures in Mexico
“For two weeks people began to go voluntarily. Of course, everyone goes to their countries, which can go up (heading to the United States).
The director of International Relations and Municipal Cross -Boarding Development, Denisse Placeo Escobar, told Efe that the shelters are at 30 % of their capacity for which those who are in Tapachula invited and do not have a place to sleep or live to get closer to shelters such as pearl, hospitality and solidarity and Jesus the good shepherd for their stay.
The situation on the southern border of Mexico reflects the immigration situation that has been aggravated since Trump’s arrival to power, according to information from The Washington Post, would aim to deporty at least 1 million people this year, more than double that the record number of 400,000 deportations made in 2011 by the government of then President Barack Obama (2009-2017).
The hardening of immigration policy is one of the measures in which the most emphasis has been putting since Trump assumed the presidency of the United States on January 20.
