Civil associations in Tijuana accuse the Government of Claudia Sheinbaum of “not having a plan” to confront the immigration crisis that will be unleashed by Donald Trump, who last week announced appointments aligned with his promises of mass deportations.
José María García Lara, director of the Tijuana Migrant Alliance, assured that the abandonment of the border comes from the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, when he cut support for citizen organizations that serve migrants throughout the country.
“The Federation has always been very distant, in the previous administration, unfortunately, there was no support from the Mexican Government, on the contrary, they removed that resource which was support for the organizations that address this problem, not only in the north, but also in the center and south of the country,” he said.
The border prepares for Trump
The activist maintained that, after Trump’s presidential victory on November 5 and his threat of mass deportations, civil organizations, the Government of Baja California and the Tijuana City Council already held meetings to prepare for any eventuality.
“We already had an approach with the authorities, the issue is being discussed, mainly because of the uncertainty that it generates and that we cannot deny, so a virtual meeting was held with all the authorities and the issue is being discussed,” he explained.
Concern grows after last week the appointment of the next US “border czar”, Tom Homan, who was director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) during the Republican’s first presidency (2017-2021), emerged. , when he established the policy of separating migrant families.
In addition, Trump appointed Stephen Miller, known as the architect of the mass deportation strategy, as deputy director of White House policy.
Read: Trump confirms that he will use the Armed Forces to deport migrants
In Tijuana, García Lara said that they are discussing “the possibilities of support and help from international organizations that will be aware of this situation,” which “will become complex starting next year.”
But, despite the local coordination, “the only thing that was missing there was the Federation,” he acknowledged.
“It was important that they (the local authorities) were there, because it is also very important to see what they are going to implement, what programs they are going to launch, what actions they are going to take if these very heavy deportations of Mexicans occur. to our border areas,” said the activist.
The heavy hand in Mexico
Hugo Castro, founder of the SOS Migrante Coalition, said that “it is regrettable that the resources” of the Government of Mexico “are being used for the persecution of migrants and, unfortunately, that there is so much violence against this population that is becoming normalized.”
“The authorities keep saying: ‘we rescued the migrants’, but when did they ask for support? They are migrants who want to cross to the United States, many of them Mexican, who already have their families in that country and who do not want to return,” he explained.
The activist explained that migrants now encounter the Mexican National Guard during their transit.
The López Obrador Government deployed 36,000 members of the Armed Forces for immigration tasks, according to its latest security report.
Read: Trump plans large detention centers for illegal immigrants before his expulsion
“With this, the need to look for alternative means to reach the United States is accentuated and this is how they end up in the hands of the polleros (human traffickers), who are the only ones who benefit from this whole situation,” he said.
With information from EFE
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