Deportees from United States to Mexico Are Strangers in a Strange Land Jan-Albert Hootsen - America Press
go to original August 6, 2017

Deported to Mexico, these men feel lost in a country they no longer know (PBS NewsHour)

Strangers in a strange land. Mexicans who lived most of their lives in the United States and return to a country they were born in but hardly know are increasingly common here in Mexico City. Six months into the presidency of Donald J. Trump and with a White House intent on ridding the United States of as many undocumented migrants as possible, Mexico is dealing with a new phenomenon: integrating deportees who “return” to a country they have little to no knowledge of.

In the first five months of the Trump presidency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported, on average, just under 17,000 undocumented migrants per month, or 5,000 less than in the last three months of his predecessor’s term. Migration officials cite backlogs in federal immigration courts as the principal cause for this downturn. But arrests are up, from slightly over 9,000 as a monthly average under President Obama in his last three months in office, to more than 13,000 now.

Moreover, the circumstances of Mexicans sent south of the border have changed significantly in comparison with the previous administration, says Eunice Rendón, a former director of Mexico’s federal Institute for Mexicans Abroad, and who now heads Agenda Migrante, an organization that organizes forums in both countries to discuss the issue of Mexican migration to the United States.

“The number of Mexicans deported under President Obama was higher than it is under Trump: an estimated 3.8 million in the last 10 years,” she tells America. “But it’s important to note that the characteristics of Mexican deportees has changed. Under Obama, the vast majority were people who had just crossed the border and were immediately sent back. Due to Trump’s rhetoric that group [who attempt border crossings] has become significantly smaller, but now we see entire families who have lived in the U.S. that are sent back.”

These new deportees are foreigners in their own country of birth. Most have spent years or even decades in the United States, have completely integrated into American society, often speak better English than Spanish and have difficulties navigating the complexities of Mexican society.

“Reintegrating someone who has lived less than five years in the U.S. is far less of a challenge than someone who has lived there for 40 years or who has spent their entire childhood there,” says Rendón. “They hardly have any family ties here, don’t have the diplomas or labor certificates and often have poor Spanish language skills.”

Read the rest at America Press

Related: Flaws Seen in Mexico's Over-Taxed Asylum Program (The Business Times)

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