Migrant shelters in Tamaulipas are on alert due to the imminent arrival of thousands of deportees that could collapse the current infrastructure at the border. In total, the shelters in the region have the capacity to receive up to 5,250 people, however, the number of migrants expected in the coming days could greatly exceed this number.
Authorities are considering improvising shelters in parks, plazas, parking lots or sports fields a week before Donald Trump assumes the presidency of the United States and fulfills his threat to begin mass deportations of undocumented immigrants to Mexico from his first day back in the White House.
Latinus toured Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa and Matamoros, the three Tamaulipas municipalities that border the United States. There, non-governmental organizations that support migrants warn of the insufficient infrastructure to care for the thousands of deportees expected to enter Mexico starting January 20.
“The shelter does not have the appropriate facilities that could be available for this upcoming contingency, but addressing this need, I believe that this shelter can at least contain this contingency of people who come because the shelter’s capacity can accommodate 3,000 people,” Carlo Rentería, Pumarejo Shelter Coordinator
Raymundo Ramos, activist and defender of human rights in Tamaulipas, regrets that so far no comprehensive plan has been presented to address the possible mass deportation, not only of thousands of Mexicans but also of illegal migrants of other nationalities.
Data from the Tamaulipas Institute for Migrants indicate that Tamaulipas received more than 247,000 deportees during Donald Trump’s first presidential term, a figure 12 percent higher than the nearly 191,000 illegals deported during Joe Biden’s term.
In total, the Trump administration deported 1.5 million migrants under judicial proceedings, while Biden’s has deported 1.4 million.
Tamaulipas has eleven migrant care centers operated by the state, municipalities, and civil or religious organizations.
Source: latinus.us
