Mexican authorities deported over 8,600 people in the first quarter of the year, most of them from Venezuela and neighboring Central American countries, a government report shows.
Concretely, out of the 8,612 people removed from the country, 7,794 were from Central America, the vast majority of them hailing from Guatemala (4,907) and Honduras (2,791). The figure was completed by El Salvador (88), Nicaragua (7) and just one person from Panama.
Looking at South America, Mexico deported 669 people, most of them Venezuelans. About two-thirds of the total (437) came from the country, the rest accounting for less than 100 deported. There were 94 Colombians, 86 Ecuadorians, 32 Brazilians and 18 Peruvians, as well as just one Bolivian and a single Argentine.
There were 17 Asians deported, including nationals from China, Azerbaijan and Georgia, one European (from Italy) and one African (from Morocco).
The report also showed that the Mexican government issued 3,551 permanent resident cards to refugees during the period, most of which went to nationals from the Northern Triangle of Central America and Cuba, and about 230 to Venezuelans.
The U.S. has been relying on Mexico to prevent migrants from reaching its border, as surging immigration dominates the national conversation during the electoral year. Enforcement measures seem to have worked over the past months, with crossings decreasing more than 40% since December and staying stable during the first four months of the year.
In April, U.S. border agents encountered about 130,000 migrants entering illegally from Mexico, a level that is high by historical standards but lower than February and March, according to U.S. enforcement data obtained by The Washington Post.
Migrant encounters by U.S. Border Patrol agents usually increase in the spring, when seasonal hiring picks up. But that did not happen this year for the first time since Biden took office.
Mexico's recently launched operation to reduce crossings is one of the main reasons cited. At the request of the U.S., the country is using military patrols and highway checkpoints, intercepting roughly 8,000 U.S.-bound migrants per day, according to officials from both countries.
However, considering that the country has deported an equivalent to the amount of encounters in one day, a question remains about whether migrants are being delayed or effectively deterred from trying to reach the U.S.
In fact, signs of a potential crack can already be found in the San Diego area, where smuggles have been sending more and more groups of migrants from South America and Asia to cross through the mountains. In recent weeks, the San Diego sector of U.S. Customs and Border Protection has surpassed others in Arizona and Texas to become the busiest along the southern border for the first time in 1997.
As the U.S. general elections near in November, U.S. officials also report being concerned for a potential surge in illegal crossings later this year, as they saw this trend happening in late 2016 when smugglers pushed migrants to make the pilgrimage to the U.S. border, urging them to cross ahead of a Trump crackdown.
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