Mexico receives over 4,000 immigrants from US in 1st week of Trump's rule

MEXICO CITY

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday that over 4,000 immigrants have been deported into Mexican territory since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s administration on Jan. 20.

"From January 20 to 26, 4,094 people have arrived, the vast majority of them Mexican men and women," said Sheinbaum during her press briefing.

Mexico represents the largest demographic of Hispanic immigrants living in the US, accounting for 60% of the Hispanic population, according to the Pew Research Center.

Trump’s stringent efforts to expel as many immigrants as possible have raised alarms south of the US border. In his first week in power, Trump repealed legal pathways for immigrants to enter US soil, such as CBP One, while deploying 1,500 military troops to safeguard the border.

However, according to Sheinbaum, the first week of Trump’s administration reflected no increase in deportations of Mexican nationals compared to previous years.

"Something very important is that this is not new... Mexico has a significant history of repatriation and relations with the United States. Past presidents have dealt with it, and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador also did, first with the Trump administration and then with the Biden administration,” she said.

The government led by Sheinbaum has implemented a contingency plan to receive Mexican immigrants expatriated by US authorities, called “Mexico Embraces You,” a strategy which seeks to provide financial aid and even employment to deported Mexican immigrants.

On Jan. 26, during a press conference, Sheinbaum praised Mexican laborers in the US, labeling them as the driving force behind the power of the US economy.

"Mexicans there sustain the economy of the United States, in agriculture, services, everywhere. The United States wouldn’t be what it is if it weren’t for a hardworking people who go there," she said.

Meanwhile, to the south of Mexico, a newly formed caravan has departed from Tapachula, Chiapas, a state bordering Guatemala and the main entry point to North America, with 2,000 asylum seekers, mostly from Venezuela and Cuba, according to local reports.