Feature: Mexico's border control measures curb migrant influx

Source: Xinhua| 2019-09-13 22:55:02|Editor: huaxia
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American policemen guard near the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, in San Diego, the United States, April 30, 2018. Hundreds of Central American migrants arrived in Mexican border city Tijuana making a mass request for US asylum.(Xinhua/Huang Heng)

Following a June 7 agreement between the two countries, Mexico deployed some 25,000 National Guard troops to its southern and northern borders to help overwhelmed immigration authorities handle the rising numbers of migrants fleeing poverty and violence in Central America.

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Stiffer immigration control measures in Mexico have reduced the number of U.S.-bound migrants arriving in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, a local official said.

Enrique Valenzuela, coordinator of the State Population Council (Coespo) in northern Chihuahua state, where Ciudad Juarez is located, said the city had become a major destination for mostly Central American migrants seeking jobs in the United States.

Located on the border with the U.S. city of El Paso, Texas, Ciudad Juarez saw as many as 300 migrants a day in May registered on a waiting list as asylum seekers.

On Tuesday, only 11 migrants were registered, an indication that immigration control measures applied in early June have been effective, he said.

After U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose punitive tariffs on Mexican imports unless more was done to limit northward migration, Mexican and U.S. officials met to discuss the immigration crisis.

Following a June 7 agreement between the two countries, Mexico deployed some 25,000 National Guard troops to its southern and northern borders to help overwhelmed immigration authorities handle the rising numbers of migrants fleeing poverty and violence in Central America.

"That is what reduced the high numbers of arrivals that there was," said Valenzuela.

This week, Mexico's Foreign Ministry said deploying the National Guard reduced the number of migrants at the U.S. border by 56 percent.

While the rate of migrant arrivals in Ciudad Juarez has decreased in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year, this city of 1.4 million inhabitants is still hosting some 3,000 migrants, Valenzuela estimated.

Many of the migrants are either waiting to apply for asylum in the United States or have already applied and been returned by U.S. authorities to Mexico to await the outcome of their case.

U.S. officials have returned some 14,140 migrants from Central America and other countries since late March.

Though Mexico's government has taken steps to curb immigration, it has also adopted measures to accommodate migrants while they are in Mexico, including providing shelters and temporary work, the official said.

"Thanks to all of that, this has not turned into a crisis, and it's a good thing that it hasn't, because it is our job to make sure it doesn't," said Valenzuela.

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