More than 4,000 migrants have been deported to Mexico from the United States in the past week, but the totals are not dissimilar to the number of weekly deportations in the past, according to Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Despite headlines about the possibility of mass deportations flooding Mexican border cities, Sheinbaum insists that fears of a mass influx of migrants are so far unfounded, telling reporters at her Monday morning press conference that there has been regular communication between the governments of Mexico and the U.S.
🔴#buzos | Estados Unidos ha deportado a 4 mil 94 personas a México, la mayoría de nacionalidad mexicana, informó la presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum. pic.twitter.com/NxkWhocBHf
— Buzos de la Noticia (@BuzosNoticias) January 27, 2025
Mexico accepted 4,094 deportees between Jan. 20-26, Sheinbaum said. In addition to those who have been deported at border crossings, the U.S. also sent four deportation flights to Mexico using civilian aircraft.
Sheinbaum also mentioned that Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente held talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week. There have also been regular meetings between U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials and Mexico’s assistant secretary for human rights, she said.
During her update, Sheinbaum also revealed that Mexico has received non-Mexican deportees from the United States in the past week, though the majority of deportees received between Jan. 20 and 26 were Mexican.
The president had been on record saying that her administration would not agree to the restart of the “Remain in Mexico” program, a so-called migrant protection protocol that requires that non-Mexican migrants remain in Mexico while their asylum requests are processed by the United States.
The program was originally implemented by the first Trump administration in January 2019, but was then partially shut down by the Biden administration in 2022. In February 2023, Mexico rejected U.S. plans to reactivate the “Remain in Mexico” policy.
Since Donald Trump was sworn in as U.S. president on Jan. 20, there has not been a “substantial” increase in deportees received by Mexico, Sheinbaum said.
Similar stories were heard along the Mexico-U.S. border.
Officials in the border state of Chihuahua told the newspaper La Jornada that the 136 people deported on Friday represented a typical day at the Ciudad Juárez border crossing.
Enrique Serrano, coordinator of Chihuahua’s Population Council, told La Jornada that, if excessive deportations are imminent, the U.S. government has agreed to alert Mexico’s Consulate in El Paso — across the border from Ciudad Juárez — as well as Mexico’s National Immigration Institute.
With reports from Reuters, La Jornada and Infobae
