Image source, Reuters Article information Author, Will Grant Author’s title, BBC News, correspondent in Mexico January 27, 2025, 13:44 GMT Updated 1 hour In the shadow of a huge crucifix, the workers and construction workers of Ciudad Juárez, a Mexican border city, are building a small city. A city of tents. In the old fairgrounds, under an altar built for a Mass of Pope Francis in 2016, the Mexican government prepares for the thousands of deportees who expect to arrive from the United States in the coming weeks. Ciudad Juárez is one of the eight border towns along the 3,000 kilometers of border in which the country is preparing for the expected expulsion wave. Men with boots and baseball caps rise to the top of a vast metal structure to cover it with a thick white canvas, raising a rudimentary shelter to temporarily house men and women exactly the same the same. It is likely that eventual workers, domestic employees, cooking personnel and agricultural pawns are soon among those sent to the south, once the President Donald Trump calls “the greatest deportation in the history of the United States. “ Image source, Getty images Photo foot, In Ciudad Juárez, Mexican authorities are building a huge center to house deportees. Not only roof and food In addition to nature protection, deportees will receive food, medical care and help to obtain Mexican identity documents, within the framework of a deporteed support program that the administration of President Claudia Sheinbaum calls “Mexico hugs you”. “Mexico will do everything you need to attend to its compatriots and allocate what is necessary to receive those who are repatriated,” said the Mexican Secretary of the Interior, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, the day of Trump’s possession. For her part, President Sheinbaum has stressed that her government will first meet the humanitarian needs of those who return, stating that they will be able to benefit from the social programs and pensions of her government, and that they can work immediately. He urged Mexicans to “keep calm and cold head” about relations with President Trump and his administration, from deportations to the threat of tariffs. “With Mexico, I think we are doing very well,” said President Trump in a video speech against Davos’s World Economic Forum last week. President Sheinbaum has said that the key is in the dialogue and keeping communication channels open. However, it recognizes the potential tension that the Emergency Declaration on the US border by President Trump could assume for Mexico. It is estimated that 5 million undocumented Mexicans currently live in the US and the perspective of a massive return could quickly saturate and overflow border cities such as Juarez and Tijuana. Image source, Getty images Photo foot, Mexico is ready to receive the thousands of deportees that Trump expects to expel from the US in the coming weeks. A difficult task It is an issue that worries José María García Lara, director of the Hostel for Immigrants Juventud 2000 of Tijuana. While teaching me the facilities, which are almost at the limit of their capacity, ensures that there are very few places where you can host more families. “If necessary, perhaps we can put some people in the kitchen or in the library,” he explains. But he admits that there will come a time when there is no longer space, and donations of food, medical material, blankets and hygiene products do not supply. “We are being beaten on two fronts. First, the arrival of Mexicans and other migrants fleeing violence,” says Garcia. “But we will also have the mass deportations. We do not know how many people will cross the border needing our help. Together, these two things could create a big problem,” he warns. In addition, another key part of Trump’s executive orders includes a policy called “staying in Mexico”, under which immigrants waiting for dates to make their asylum cases in an Imigration Court of the United States would have to remain in Mexico before those appointments. Image source, Getty images Photo foot, Mexico has also reinforced security on its side of the border to try to stop illegal crosses. When “staying in Mexico” was previously in force, during Trump’s first term and under the presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico, Mexican border cities fought to get ahead. Human rights groups also repeatedly denounced the risks to which migrants were exposed when they were forced to wait in dangerous cities where crime related to drug cartels abounds. This time, Sheinbaum has made it clear that Mexico does not agree with the plan and will not accept any US non -Mexican asylum seeker while waiting for her audiences. It is clear that “staying in Mexico” only works if Mexico is willing to fulfill it. Until now, it has drawn a line. President Trump has deployed about 2,500 soldiers on the southern border of the US, which will be responsible for carrying out part of the logistics of his offensive. In Tijuana, meanwhile, Mexican soldiers help prepare for consequences. The authorities have prepared an event center called flamingos with 1,800 beds for the returnees, with troops that bring supplies, install a kitchen and showers. Image source, Getty images Photo foot, In his early days in the White House, Trump has issued a series of orders that seek to launch the largest deportation of undocumented history. While President Trump signed executive orders last Monday, a minibus crossed the doors of the Chaparral border crossing, between San Diego and Tijuana, transporting a handful of deportees. A few journalists had gathered to try to speak with the first deportees of the Trump era. However, it was a routine deportation, which probably had been preparing for weeks and had nothing to do with the documents Trump was signing before a crowd cooling in Washington DC However, symbolically, while the minibus passed at full speed ahead of the media waiting before a refuge managed by the Government, these will be the first of many. Mexico will … Read more
