WASHINGTON _ The number of Central American migrants stopped by Mexican officials at their southern border fell significantly in two recent months, likely foreshadowing a similar drop at the U.S. border.
About 285 people a day were stopped entering Mexico from Guatemala in December and January, according statistics from the Mexican government, a 20 percent drop from the comparable months a year earlier.
President Donald Trump took office Jan. 20 after a raucous campaign in which he made combating illegal immigration a centerpiece. Once sworn in, Trump signed several executive orders to make it more difficult to enter the country illegally or to win asylum, and easier to deport those who are already here. Last week, his administration threatened to separate children from their parents after being apprehended at the border.
Amy Fischer, the policy director for the Texas-based Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, said it was too early to know precisely why detentions were down in Mexico and along the U.S. border, where the Department of Homeland Security reported a 36 percent drop in February detentions. "Maybe they're not coming" because of reports that families might be separated, she said. "Maybe they're going somewhere else. And maybe they're in wait-and-see mode to see how long they can hold out without coming."
The December and January drop in Mexican detentions was not reflected in those at the U.S. border, but the decline in February and a 40 percent drop in detentions at the U.S. border from January to February likely reflected the time it takes for a Central American migrant to travel through Mexico and reach the United States.
The drop in detentions also has meant fewer migrant mothers and children are being held in family detention centers.
At one point, the Obama administration held more than 2,000 parents and children at three family detention centers, in Karnes City and Dilley, Texas, and in Berks County, Pa. Most were women seeking asylum.
The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services reports fewer than 500 are now held in the detention centers.
While Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said the new trend was a sign that fewer people are risking their lives to make the dangerous journey north, Fischer said the reality was more women were remaining in violent situations when they needed help.
