Migrants are scared to “Remain in Mexico”

The United States’ reinstatement of its Remain in México program has sparked both fear and hope in migrants waiting in Mexico’s northern border cities.

The reinstatement last week of the Donald Trump-era program officially named Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), which forces the migrants, refugees and asylum seekers to wait in this country while U.S. authorities evaluate their applications for entry, has been met with disappointment, frustration and concern among migrants and activist communities.

The restarting of the program brings uncertainty for activists such as José María Lara, director of the Youth Movement 2000 shelter in Tijuana, who said that they have not been told what will happen to those who continue to try to reach the US.

The activist recalled that in 2019, when the program began, Central Americans repeatedly tried to obtain political asylum until they became exhausted and abandoned their objective.

Meanwhile, migrant families are also uncertain about what this program entails, as is the case of a woman from Honduras, who has spent more than eight months in Tijuana sleeping in the Youth Movement 2000 shelter.

She said she has no clear information about the program, but reaching the U.S. is her priority and she will wait as long as necessary. Otherwise, she will stay in México, but returning to Honduras is not an option.

For Almadelia Nava, originally from Acapulco, Mexico, things are not much different. She arrived on Sunday with her husband, two daughters and her adolescent son, whose two thumbs were amputated by members of a criminal group.

“They beat him, mistreated him, cut off his fingers and threw him away thinking he was dead. We don’t want to go back for fear that they will grab him,” said Almadelia.

According to an official letter issued by José Luis Pérez of the Mexican Academy of Human Rights, Mexico will receive more than 26,000 migrants to await the resolution of their political asylum process, of them about 10,000 in Tijuana.

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