Migrants on the southern border of Mexico ask President Claudia Sheinbaum for support to deport them because they prefer to return to their countries rather than stay in Mexican territory in the face of the restrictions that are coming with the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump.
Hundreds of migrants at the Jesús el Buen Pastor shelter, the largest and oldest in Tapachula, the main city on the border of Mexico with Central America, want to return to their countries due to the uncertainty that Trump has unleashed and the restrictive policies of the Mexican Government, which prevent their advance north.
There are now 1,300 migrants in the shelter, 70% Honduran, which has led to its collapse, while the Honduran Consulate in Tapachula does not guarantee their care, according to the administrator of the space, Herbert Bermúdez, in an interview.
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“That is one thing that I am experiencing right now, people who have not been here, come, have come to the Consulate to ask for voluntary return and what they do is give them a piece of paper, they send them to the (National Institute of) Migration and what Migration does It is coming to leave them,” he described.
The activist indicated that in the shelter there are “quite a few people detained, as if they no longer want to continue and, based on that, there is a lot of movement of caravans, something that is very fatal because they put the children at great risk.”
Unattractive options for migrants
Faced with Trump’s threats, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum stated this Monday that migrants are no longer advancing to the border with the United States because “from the south of Mexico they are given different options,” such as “staying in Mexico to work.” or in a shelter.
But undocumented immigrants consulted by EFE in Tapachula prefer a third alternative proposed by the president: support to return to their country.
Among them is Walter Oliva, a Salvadoran who requested asylum in Tapachula and the United States, but the authorities denied it with the argument that “things are better now” in his country, so he returned to the Jesús el Buen Pastor shelter, where he stayed. months before, to spend a few days and return to El Salvador voluntarily.
“(I want) to return because I have no other alternative to El Salvador. I have found that there are many people who are discriminatory towards immigrants, they have double standards. There are those who help, but (also) those who help with another intention, I have even seen cases of rape in that aspect,” he narrated.
The migrant stated that he has not received official help to return to his country, which is why he remains stranded in Mexico.
“My return is voluntary and right now there is no safe repatriation so I have had to go down on my own,” he said.
Honduran María Lucinda López also wants to return voluntarily after her failed attempt to go to the United States, since she ran out of money to continue advancing.
She went to the Honduran Consulate for support, but did not receive a satisfactory response and is now waiting at the shelter.
“I want to return to my country because I no longer have help up there, I cannot continue in a country that is not mine with my minor son, exposing us to a lot of danger that exists here, we have gone through a lot of danger and (a) They (the officials) are not interested in that,” he lamented.
Although the daily encounter of undocumented immigrants at the United States border has decreased by 75% since December 2023, the Government of Mexico detected a record of more than 925,000 irregular migrants from January to August, a year-on-year increase of almost 132%.
