Mexican Officials Agree to Measures to Address Border Crisis: Deportations and Rail System Interventions Planned
Mexican officials met with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Friday to discuss strategies to alleviate the mounting pressure on northern Mexican cities bordering the United States. The aim of the meeting, which took place in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, was to find solutions and prevent further illegal border crossings into the US.
The recent surge in illegal crossings prompted the temporary closure of an international bridge and halted Mexico’s main freight train system. In attendance were CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller, the Commissioner of Mexico’s National Immigration Institute, the Governor of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, members of the Mexican defense and national guard, and Ferromex, a Mexican railway operator.
Mexican officials agreed to implement 15 actions, in coordination with CBP and Ferromex, to address the situation. One of the key measures is the deportation of migrants to their countries of origin, utilizing both land and air transport. Additionally, Mexican officials will allow CBP to expel migrants through the Ciudad Juárez international bridge, which connects to El Paso.
Negotiations will also be carried out with the governments of Venezuela, Brazil, Nicaragua, Colombia, and Cuba to seek assistance in repatriating their citizens. Furthermore, interventions on railways and roads will be conducted, along with the establishment of checkpoints along the Ferromex railway route. Mexican officials have additionally committed to providing CBP’s El Paso Sector with a daily report on the number of migrants using the train system.
While these actions indicate Mexico’s commitment to addressing the immigration problem, concerns have arisen about whether Mexico is shouldering the burden of the United States by implementing these measures. CNN reached out to CBP for clarification on the nature of Mexico’s reception of expelled migrants and the daily briefing on migrants traveling by train, but no immediate response was received.
Mexico’s National Migration Institute revealed that hundreds of thousands of migrants have already been deported, with over 788,000 migrants returning to their home countries between January 1 and September. The recent surge in migrant crossings, with more than 8,600 crossings in a 24-hour period, has put immense strain on the US-Mexico border. The Del Rio, El Paso, Lower Rio Grande Valley, and Tucson sectors have seen over 1,000 encounters with authorities within the last 24 hours.
As the situation continues to unfold, both Mexico and the US are faced with the pressing challenge of managing the flow of migrants and finding long-term solutions to address the root causes driving migration.