As U.S. Begins Deportations, Asylum Seekers Encounter Dangers in Mexico, Report by Reuters

By Delphine Schrank

REYNOSA, Mexico – Central Americans escaping violence and seeking refuge in the United States are now facing increased dangers, including kidnapping or death, under a new U.S. plan that mandates their deportation to dangerous Mexican border cities while their asylum claims are processed.

Reynosa, along with a section of the Rio Grande that separates Texas from the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, is the busiest entry point for migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. Yet, this city is riddled with abandoned and damaged homes amid one of the most brutal battle zones of Mexico’s drug wars, where cartel factions fight for control over drug trafficking routes, often with civilians caught in the crossfire.

Recently, the administration launched a plan to send Central American asylum seekers back to Mexico instead of allowing them to wait on U.S. soil, a strategy known as the Migration Protection Protocols. The first instance of this policy was implemented in Tijuana, a city located far from Reynosa.

Authorities plan to gradually extend this program to additional legal entry points, including those in Tamaulipas, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). "We’re returning them to where they came in," DHS spokeswoman Katie Waldman stated.

Last year, over 32,000 individuals sought asylum in the Rio Grande Valley region, representing more than half of all asylum cases along the entire U.S.-Mexico border. When questioned about the risks associated with returning migrants to a country plagued by violence and disappearances, Waldman responded that the danger is comparable to certain violent areas in the U.S., such as Chicago.

FBI statistics from 2017 indicate that Chicago had a homicide rate of 24 murders per 100,000 residents—similar to figures in Tamaulipas reported by the interior ministry. However, it is worth noting that an estimated 90 percent of crimes in Mexico go unreported, and Tamaulipas alone has over 34,000 unresolved disappearances according to local estimates.

Since the Mexican government began militarized actions against drug cartels in 2006, the border region has transformed into a violent battleground. Reports show that 130 soldiers have died in Tamaulipas—more than in any other Mexican state—as various cartel factions, including the Gulf and Zeta cartels, engage in fierce territorial battles using armored vehicles.

The U.S. State Department currently issues a "Level 4: Do Not Travel" warning for several Mexican states, including Tamaulipas, which is often associated with active war zones.

The idea of safely accommodating Central Americans while their immigration cases are heard seems unrealistic, according to Reynosa’s mayor, Maki Ortiz. She emphasized the city lacks the necessary resources and infrastructure to handle such an influx, stating that no funds have been allocated for a situation that already stretches local capabilities thin.

Unlike the large migrant caravans that have made headlines, many individuals traveling to Reynosa do so alone or with the assistance of coyotes—smugglers who guide them across the Rio Grande for hefty fees. They often wait in established safe houses for their time to cross the border, all while nervously awaiting their fate.

At the Senda de Vida shelter, the only one in the area that accepts Central Americans, migrants are advised against going out alone, as the district is heavily influenced by the Gulf cartel, notorious for kidnappings and disappearances. One resident, Maria Alfaro, a 51-year-old cook from Honduras, shared that she has not seen the city since arriving. She fled her home country after facing severe threats from a member of the Zeta cartel, ultimately making her way north to seek asylum, believing that the U.S. would provide better protection.

Tracking the missing migrants is challenging due to their undocumented status, especially since those accompanying them are unlikely to alert authorities if they suddenly disappear. Pastor Hector Silva, the founder of Senda de Vida, expressed concerns that many Central Americans had gone missing after ignoring his warnings, with one recent case occurring just weeks earlier.

Each time a migrant goes missing, they leave behind their belongings, as if intending to return shortly. In some tragic instances, families or friends of the missing individuals have managed to pay ransoms, but not always in time to save their loved ones.

In a stark reminder of the ongoing crisis, a cross inscribed with the words "Memoria Migrantes" stands as a memorial to those who have vanished, located beneath the international bridge where a U.S. flag can be seen fluttering across the river.