More Families Fleeing Central America Leads to Rise in Refugee Resettlement in Mexico Christopher Sherman - The Associated Press
go to original July 7, 2017

Refugees running away from violence in Central America are setting their sights on Mexico – where they're now much more likely to get asylum. (Fusion)

The rise in refugee resettlement in Mexico has paralleled a decrease in immigration to the US, with apprehensions by US Border Patrol down sharply at the frontier – especially of unaccompanied children and families.

Under President Trump, US authorities have sought to ramp up immigration enforcement and decrease the number of refugees. Last week Thomas Homan, acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, warned that those who enter the US illegally "should not be comfortable" and "should be concerned that someone is looking for you."

"I do think there are fewer people deciding to focus their sights on the United States precisely because it has projected itself as being an unwelcoming country," said Maureen Meyer, a senior associate for Mexico at the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights-focused organization.

“I feel like I can walk freely" - Honduran family finds safety in Mexico (UN Refugee Agency)

After Mexico received 3,424 applications for refugee status in 2015, that rose to 8,794 the following year and applications are already outpacing that this year with 5,464 just from January to May.

Nearly all are people from the so-called Northern Triangle countries of Central America, where street gangs are largely free to terrorize the population and murder rates are some of the world's highest outside of open war zones. The Mexico office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees believes the country could receive 20,000 requests by year's end.

"We're talking about entire families, of entire generations ... who arrive at Mexico's southern border," said Francesca Fontanini, regional spokeswoman for the UNHCR. "Obviously, facing this avalanche of people the humanitarian response needs to increase."

Read the rest at The Christian Science Monitor

Related: This Woman Fled a Brutal Civil War in El Salvador, and She Knows Today’s Refugees Aren’t So Lucky (Bustle)

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