Arturo Sánchez Jiménez and agencies
Newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, May 5, 2022, p. 9
The United States government has begun to expel Cubans and Nicaraguans to Mexico, based on a faculty related to the covid-19 pandemic, which denies migrants the possibility of requesting asylum, expanding the use of the norm even when publicly says it is trying to end it, officials said Wednesday.
The neighboring country reached an agreement with the national government to remove up to 100 Cubans and 20 Nicaraguans a day from three border points: San Diego, California, and El Paso and Rio Grande Valley, Texas, according to a federal official with direct knowledge of the actions. At the close of this edition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) had not ruled on the veracity of this point.
Mexico accepted the agreement on April 26 due to the exponential increase in arrivals
of undocumented immigrants from both countries to national territory and to the United States, he confirmed to this newspaper. The country agreed to accept limited numbers
of Cubans and Nicaraguans with the aim of that the flow happens in the most orderly way possible
he clarified.
Mexico also took into account that the US government had begun processing visas in Cuba again, he noted.
The evictions began on April 27 and will end on May 22, the official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been disclosed. These expulsions are being carried out based on the Title 42 mandate, which has been used to deport undocumented immigrants with the argument of preventing the spread of covid-19, whose lifting is scheduled for the 23rd.
The head of the SRE, Marcelo Ebrard, affirmed on Tuesday, after a meeting with the Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, that Mexico will not become a free passage for migrants who intend to reach the United States, regardless of whether the Title 42.
On April 26, the United States and Mexico agreed to carry out expulsions of Cubans and Nicaraguans in a very limited number, according to a high-level Mexican official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to comment. . This decision was made due to the arrival of a greater number of migrants from those two nations at the southern border of the United States.
Another Mexican public servant, who also does not have authorization to comment, confirmed that up to 100 Cubans and 20 Nicaraguans were being expelled from San Diego, in compliance with Title 42.
Until last week, Mexico had only agreed to receive Guatemalans, Hondurans and Salvadorans – in addition to their nationals – who were expelled by the mandate of said law.
Blinken tests positive for covid; Ebrard, negative
The US Secretary of State tested positive for the new coronavirus after participating in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and other related events over the weekend, the State Department reported.
Foreign Minister Ebrard, who along with his team met with Blinken on Tuesday, reported that a PCR test was done and that it came out negative.
