U.S. authorities on Friday removed dozens of migrants through a border crossing in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. Mexican authorities immediately placed them on buses and drove them south, away from Juarez.
Two white charter buses left the San Jeronimo customs parking lot west of Juarez, escorted by agents of Mexico’s National Migration Institute in white pickups with flashing lights. Each bus can accommodate 50 passengers, and both were full of Venezuelan nationals removed from the United States. The buses were headed to Mexico City, officials said.
First Large Group of Non-Mexican Deportees
This marks the first large group of non-Mexican citizens deported from the United States by land since President Donald Trump took office on Monday, promising a crackdown on illegal immigration and mass deportations. Earlier on Friday, an airplane carrying 80 migrants left Biggs Field in Fort Bliss, Texas, headed for Guatemala, according to the office of U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas. Deportations of Mexican nationals, in groups of 30 to 40, have taken place daily since Monday.
Tent City in Juarez
The Mexican government continued to build a massive tent complex in north Juarez to cope with the influx. Video taken by Border Report shows contractors erecting five large canvas tents around metal poles at El Punto, near the Juarez soccer stadium. Dozens of portable toilets are already in place. This is one of nine migrant reception centers Mexico is setting up in Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas to assist migrants deported from the United States.
Temporary Shelters
Mexican officials said the centers are not intended as long-term shelters but will provide migrants with food, medical checkups, and a place to rest. Mexican citizens will be offered bus tickets and a $98 debit card. President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo stated that her government would assist foreign nationals expelled from the United States on humanitarian grounds and seek to repatriate them to their country of origin.
Source: Border Report
