U.S. flying migrants flying to southern Mexico; Mexico then transports them to the border with Guatemala

In the pandemic-related asylum ban on the southern border of the United States, some immigrants said that the authorities were flying them to southern Mexico, where they were transported to the border of Guatemala, regardless of their country of origin.

Although the United States is repatriating many immigrants to their home countries, it is supplementing these flights by transferring the responsibilities of some to the Mexican authorities.

The immigrants told the Associated Press that at the border between Mexico and Guatemala, they were ordered to walk into Guatemala and seek asylum there, without anyone registering to enter the country. They were not required to provide evidence that they tested negative for COVID-19, which is required for all foreign tourists to Guatemala.

Karla Leiva, 32, from Yoro, north-central Honduras, said that neither the US nor Mexican authorities asked her if she was afraid of returning to her country.

“No one told me anything. They never heard of my case and why I went to the United States,” Leiva said. “I can’t tell them they are blackmailing me. They threatened to kidnap my little daughter and bring my adolescent son to join the gang. That’s why I left this country.”

For more reports from the Associated Press, please see below.

On Thursday, Leiva and her 5-year-old daughter Zoe sat on the terrace of an immigration shelter near the border between Guatemala and Mexico. In the past 24 hours, they have been to three countries, but none of them are their own.

Leva arrived at the asylum in El Sebo on Wednesday. That day, she and her daughter set off 1,000 miles north of Brownsville, Texas, where they were sent on a plane by the US government along with dozens of other mothers and children, but they didn’t know where to go. where.

The rumor circulating among the immigrants is that they will be sent to California. Finally, in the air, they were told that the plane would land in Villahermosa in the Tabasco state of southern Mexico. There, the Mexican authorities caught them on a bus and drove them to the Guatemalan border for more than three hours.

Leiva and her daughter were involved in the latest US government efforts to prevent immigrants and asylum seekers from reaching their southern border.

On Thursday, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, in response to a reporter’s question, publicly admitted for the first time that he was expelling Central Americans flying to southern Mexico. The Mexican government has been openly silent.

Majorcas said the United States is coordinating with the Mexican government on flights including Central Americans and ensuring that they abide by international law and provide humanitarian protection when necessary. He did not elaborate.

During a visit to the Rio Grande Valley, Majorcas said that the flight to the interior of Mexico was part of an effort to prevent the return of migrants arrested at the southwest border.

“If in fact they were turned around and placed in northern Mexico, it would be too easy, too easy for them to return and try again illegally,” he said. “Therefore, in order to deal with such habitual offenders, in order to prevent and prevent the occurrence of such habitual offenders, we will deport them further to the interior of Mexico. It is much more difficult to try again.”

He said that the Biden administration has changed its border policy, including allowing unaccompanied children to enter the country, but said that those without legal residency will be deported according to the law.

Wednesday, Friday United Nations Institutions including the High Commissioner for Refugees expressed concern about US policy and once again called on the Biden administration to lift the so-called Article 42 restrictions on asylum.

Majorcas stated that those who were deported to the interior of Mexico were deported under Article 42.

Over the years, the US government has intermittently sent deported Mexican immigrants back inland, making it more difficult to cross the border again, but this seems to be the first time it has flown Central Americans to Mexico instead of their home country.

This move is after the president Joe Biden Abandoning many of his predecessor’s tough immigration policies, describing them as cruel or unwise, including the policy of allowing asylum seekers to wait for US immigration court hearings in Mexican border cities.

Biden also canceled agreements with Central American countries, requiring asylum-seekers from third countries to be sent there to listen to their demands, denying any prospect of settling in the United States.

The Biden administration has stated that it wants to focus on addressing the root causes of immigration from Central America.vice-president Kamala Harris Lead this work, visit Mexico and Guatemala, discuss how the United States can help, and encourage people not to come. But these are at best medium-term solutions, and at the US border, the number of contacts between US authorities and immigrants is increasing.

On July 27, Leiva left Yoro with her daughter and three eldest sons. Twelve days later, she and her daughter crossed the Rio Grande River into Texas on a raft with a smuggler and were quickly arrested. She said her sons should follow, but did not manage to get past.

The US authorities brought Leyva and Zoe to Brownsville. Two days later, they were sent on the plane. On Thursday, they were still wearing the identification wristbands given to them by the US authorities.

As more immigrants are being sent to the border every day, the orange mountain top shelter here has been filled up this week. In this remote border post surrounded by jungle, there is almost nothing else.

Leiva is still trying to understand what happened and what will happen next. She said that she could not return to Honduras and that she was troubled by the US$3,000 paid to smugglers.

“No one signed any deportation orders. I didn’t sign them,” she said. “They deceived us. They didn’t even give me a piece of paper.” The bracelet was the only evidence of their short stay in the United States.

She said that Leyva’s only option was to go north again. Her two sons and eldest daughter are waiting in northern Mexico.