The flow of Nicaraguan migrants deported from Mexico to Nicaragua continues to increase, according to official data from the Migration Policy Unit of the Ministry of the Interior (Segob) of that country. In the first seven months of 2022 alone, there were 2,040 returned nationals, this figure is 2.8 times higher than that reported in the same period in 2021.
Also, the Migration Statistics report – Synthesis 2022 indicates that Nicaragua is among the five countries (almost all from Central America) that lead the list of deportees. Between January and July 2022 there were 64,860 deportations of migrants traveling to the United States, of these 28,826 were Guatemalans, 26,220 Hondurans, 2,639 Salvadorans, 2,214 Cubans, and 2,040 Nicaraguans.
These last two countries are the ones that have had the greatest increase in the last year, according to official data, unlike the rest that present a decrease in deportations. This behavior would be influenced by the relaxation of visas for Cubans by the Daniel Ortega regime and by the massive wave of migrants that already exceeds the 165,413 Nicaraguans who have arrived in the US between July 2021 and July 2022.
The majority of migrant interceptions in Mexico occurred in the states of Chiapas, followed by Baja California, Veracruz, Tabasco, and Coahuila. 77.4% were men and 22.6% women.
Parallel to these deportations, Mexican authorities continue to find trucks with Nicaraguan migrants trying to cross into the United States. In August alone, 978 migrants were found traveling illegally and of these 229 were Nicaraguans, according to monitoring by CONFIDENTIAL to the reports of the National Migration Institute (INM).
The largest number of Nicaraguan migrants found in the container of a trailer occurred on August 13, 2022, when the authorities of the state of Coahuila found 127 nationals crammed into a truck.
The Texas Nicaraguan Community initiative reported through its social networks that a 17-year-old girl was found among the Nicaraguans who was traveling unaccompanied and her parents request that she be returned to Nicaragua. “The case has already been reported to the Nicaraguan consulate in Mexico and protection and custody of the minor is requested to guarantee her safe return because she is a minor,” they explain.
They find migrants overcrowded in double bottoms
In the first six days of September, the INM reported that they found 266 migrants crammed into the double bottoms of three tractor-trailers, 80 of these are Guatemalans and 78 Nicaraguans.
“In the dark, the voices and the jostling in the back of the trucks evidenced the presence of the migrants; some standing, others on their knees and some more sitting cross-legged on planks that formed a second floor in the dry box”, describes a press release from the INM.
As they explain, the authorities responded to an anonymous call about the possible transfer of children and adults in trucks in an area known as Los Pipotes in Galeana, Nuevo León.
The migrants were taken to the Galeana Municipal Auditorium and in the examination it was determined that “of the 266 migrants, 62 traveled as a family unit; in addition to 19 boys and a girl, minors without the company of a relative”.
This Monday, September 12, the National Guard and the INM rescued 35 migrants from Cuba, Ecuador and Nicaragua, without detailing the figures by nationality, who were illegally transferred in five vehicles. The authorities arrested seven Mexican people who remained in detention; while the migrants were taken to a migration station to “carry out the corresponding steps to receive consular assistance, define their legal situation and, if applicable, proceed with their assisted return.”
Wave of migration already leaves more than 40 dead
The massive migration of Nicaraguans has also caused mourning. According to a monitoring CONFIDENTIALFrom March to September, 40 Nicaraguans have died, of these 26 died in the waters of the Rio Grande, another eight in traffic accidents, two abandoned in a container and the rest for other reasons.
The month with the most deaths was May with a total of 19, followed by March and April with seven each. TNC reported that the morgues in Laredo, Texas already exceed 200 bodies, including five Nicaraguans. For this reason, the authorities will begin to bury the bodies of the migrants who drown in the Rio Grande and are found on the US side, after carrying out the entire identification process that allows the relatives to find them.
In the last week, the INM warned migrants that at this time it is dangerous to cross irregularly into the United States through the Rio Grande because it has rained heavily in that region and this caused the river to increase its flow and “the strong currents put The lives of migrants and their loved ones are at risk.
