Mexico is preparing for President Donald Trump’s promised mass deportations. Currently, giant tent shelters are being constructed in nine border towns, and repatriation centers are being set up across 11 locations in Mexico, according to officials.
Mexico’s plan
Mexican authorities said they are building the sprawling tents to house, feed and provide medical care for potentially thousands of deported migrants, and they expect the temporary shelters will be ready in the coming days.
Tent cities in towns like Ciudad Juarez, which lies across the border from El Paso, Texas, will also help people obtain identifying documents, according to the Mexican government.
It’s part of a strategy by the Sheinbaum administration that is dubbed “Mexico Embraces You.”
President Claudia Sheinbaum also plans on initiating a fleet of buses, ready to take Mexicans to reception centers in their hometowns.
U.S. boosting border security efforts
The Pentagon also announced on Wednesday, Jan. 22, that 1,500 U.S. troops are being deployed to the southern border to assist with intelligence operations.
Trump has vowed to carry out the largest mass deportation effort in American history, which would reportedly remove millions of undocumented migrants.
Nearly 5 million Mexicans living in the United States are undocumented, according to a Mexican think tank’s analysis based on U.S. census data. Many come from southern and central Mexico, where gang violence and poverty are rampant.
Skepticism over Mexico’s readiness
The Mexican government claims it is ready for the mass deportations, but immigration scholars fear it is not, arguing that the influx of potentially millions could be catastrophic for Mexico’s already struggling economy.
Mexico’s interior minister, however, said on Monday, Jan. 20, the country will do everything it can to accommodate those deported.
