Mexico will deport certain migrants from some of its northern border cities as part of an agreement with US immigration officials, who have reported a sharp increase in migrants attempting to cross the border in recent weeks, according to Mexico’s immigration authority.
Mexico’s National Migration Institute said it wanted to “relieve the pressure” on the border cities of Ciudad Juárez, Piedras Negras, Tijuana and the northern state of Tamaulipas, where large numbers of migrants have recently crossed and where US Border Patrol agents have arrested thousands.
The institute didn’t say when the deportations would begin or how long they would last, adding that it would first negotiate with Venezuela, Brazil, Nicaragua, Colombia and Cuba to ensure those countries would accept their citizens.
“It should be noted that CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) representatives have offered the Mexican authorities all technical assistance to address the immigration issue at airports or other checkpoints, such as trains, in order to reduce the number of people using these mobility routes,” the institute said in a statement.
The statement also said Mexican immigration officials would take custody of migrants deported by the United States at an international bridge between El Paso and Juárez.
The agreement was announced after Mexican and US officials met in Juárez on Friday. The meeting was attended by officials from Ferromex, Mexico’s largest rail operator; hundreds of migrants have arrived at the border after boarding freight cars.
“We continue to work closely with our partners in Mexico to enhance security and combat irregular migration along our shared border,” said CBP Acting Commissioner Troy A. Miller, who attended the meeting. “The United States and Mexico remain committed to stemming the flow of irregular migration driven by unscrupulous smugglers while maintaining access to legal avenues.”
The move comes as Eagle Pass and El Paso have scrambled to find shelter for recently arrived migrants, or help them get transportation out of the border cities after they are processed and released by immigration officials.
On Saturday, CBP said it had reopened a port of entry in Eagle Pass to rail and vehicle traffic; agents had closed it on Wednesday to help process the hundreds of migrants waiting to be processed under the bridge.
CBP said in a statement last week that it ‘quickly screened and processed approximately 2,500 individuals into custody and cleared the area’ under one of Eagle Pass’ international bridges on Thursday. Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas Jr. told CNN that immigration agents detained between 800 and 1,000 migrants in Eagle Pass on Friday.
In August, federal agents encountered an average of 957 migrants a day in the Del Rio sector, which includes Eagle Pass, according to government figures.
In El Paso, more than 2,000 migrants have arrived each day, Mayor Oscar Leeser said at a press conference on Saturday afternoon. That’s nearly double the 1,073 daily apprehensions the El Paso sector, which includes New Mexico, recorded in August, according to government data.
As of Monday, immigration agents were releasing 1,200 migrants a day into the city, according to the city’s website. That’s up from 300 to 400 migrants a day just six weeks ago, the mayor said.
The city has reached a “breaking point”, Leeser said. “We’re preparing for the unknown.”
On Saturday, the city opened an overflow shelter at the Nations Tobin Recreation Center that can hold 400 people, Deputy City Manager Mario D’Agostino said at the news conference.
Last week, the El Paso Independent School District board agreed to sell a vacant middle school building to the city for $3.8 million for use as an overflow shelter. The city council will vote on the purchase on Monday.
Officials at three shelters in downtown El Paso said the facilities are at capacity and have had to turn away single men to give priority to women and children. The shelters can accommodate up to 450 people.
“We’re at numbers that none of us have ever seen before,” Blake Barrow, executive director of the Rescue Mission El Paso, said at a press conference on Friday.
Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens said the large number of migrants who arrived in Eagle Pass last week was a tactic by organised crime to draw immigration agents’ attention to the region and make it easier to smuggle drugs elsewhere along the border.
“I think it’s a money-making opportunity for these smugglers,” he said in an interview with ABC News on Good Morning America.
In the months after the emergency health order known as Title 42, which immigration officials used to turn away many migrants at the border, expired on 11 May, the number of migrant apprehensions dropped significantly. But in recent weeks, the number has skyrocketed.
Immigration officials made an average of 6,900 apprehensions a day along the southern border in the first 20 days of September – a 60% increase on the daily average in July.
Many of the migrants are from Venezuela, fleeing an authoritarian government, death threats from organised crime and a collapsing economy.
Last week, the Biden administration announced it would allow Venezuelans who entered the US on or before July 31 to receive Temporary Protected Status, a programme approved by Congress in 1990 that allows undocumented people to obtain work permits and defer deportation for 18 months.
