Donald Trump's government plans to grant $ 20 million ($ 84 million) in aid to Mexico to accelerate the deportation of irregular migrants in that country and prevent them from reaching the United States. The decision represents a blow to reality and a drastic turn of Trump. As a candidate, the Republican vowed to the exhaustion that Mexico would pay for the construction of a border wall, something that the neighboring country rejected strictly. And as president he repeatedly accused Mexicans of passivity in controlling their border with Guatemala.
Now, however, it is the United States that is paying Mexico. The Trump Administration has decided to transfer some of the Department of State's international aid resources to the Department of Homeland Security in order to tighten its immigration policy through the border country. The $ 20 million will be used to deport up to 17,000 undocumented immigrants from third countries in Mexico, according to a US government notification to Congress. The Department of Homeland Security estimates that the new resources could lead to a 10% increase in the expulsion of Latin American immigrants from Mexican authorities.
"This assistance at the same time will help the Mexican government address and potentially deter irregular flows of migrants, which will help prevent illegal immigrants from entering the United States across the southern border," the Department of Homeland Security alleges in a statement. Mexican authorities will be responsible for detaining and deporting immigrants in accordance with national and international laws, but it will be the United States that will fully fund the planes and buses with which these undocumented citizens will be returned to their countries of origin or citizenship.
The vast majority of irregular immigrants arriving in the United States are Central Americans traveling through Mexico on a desperate and dangerous journey. Estimates indicate that every year 400,000 people transit through Mexico to the United States. By facilitating deportations in that country, the Trump Government's goal is for undocumented immigrants to reach their own borders. The aid also states that all immigrants suspected of terrorism should be expelled, although they are few in profile.
"This proposal is part of a multi-ramming effort to deal with the crisis on our southern border. We are working closely with our Mexican counterparts to directly address the growing arrests at the border," said Katie Waldman, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security Internal. The department claims that this month increased by 38% of prisons of families entering the United States irregularly. And he argues that the legal limitations prevented the authorities from deporting about 94,000 immigrants arrested last year, who are still in the United States. Trump complains that laws and sentences prevent him from expelling immigrants quickly and now wants to strengthen Mexico's role as a police officer in the south.
It is a step similar to that adopted by the governments of George W. Bush and Barack Obama. The United States and Mexico agreed in 2008 with the so-called Merida Initiative, through which Washington grants millionaire aid in the fight against drug trafficking and border control in the neighboring country. In 2014, the Obama administration reinforced these efforts with a new plan that led Mexico to monitor its southern border with Guatemala with much more commitment. The effect was huge: in 2015 and 2016, Mexico deported more immigrants than the US.
Trump made the demonization of immigration a pillar of his presidency. It facilitated the expulsions and restricted immigration programs, but many of its more controversial measures were paralyzed by the rejection of Congress, the courts, or public opinion. His plan to build a wall on the Mexican border did not receive parliamentary funding, and Justice has forced him to reduce his initial veto to immigrants from Muslim-majority countries. In April, Trump pressed for a controversial measure that separates undocumented immigrant families from the border, but political and social pressure in June forced the president to revoke it.
