In recent weeks, the United States has significantly increased deportations along the Mexican border, leading to heightened challenges for both nations. It’s common for U.S. border officers to escort groups of 30 to 40 migrants back to Mexico over the Paso del Norte International Bridge, but in recent days that number has increased to as many as 90 migrants at a time.
According to Juan Francisco Gim, the mayor of Nogales, Sonora, nearly 100 migrants per day have been escorted out of Nogales, Arizona, with the bulk of them being Mexican citizens. Gim stated:
The federal, state and municipal government organized ourselves to be prepared for the threat and imminence of these deportations. We have three temporary shelters, one in sports fields with a 500-person capacity, another is a factory with similar capacity and one more in progress for 300 people. A federal and state facility under construction will give us a total capacity of 3,000.
In response to the surge in deportations, Mexico is setting up migrant reception centers to accommodate the influx of migrants in Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas.
