Mexican Migrants Face Unprecedented Challenges Amid U.S. Asylum Ban

Ana Ruiz and other Mexican migrants face significant hardships as U.S. immigration policies prioritize deporting Mexicans while allowing migrants from other nations to remain. With the asylum halt effective since June 5, a wave of deportations has hit Mexico hard, causing distress and pressing them to avoid capture.

Ana Ruiz was dismayed seeing migrants from some countries released in the United States with orders to appear in immigration court while she and other Mexicans were deported on a one-hour bus ride to the nearest border crossing.

"They're giving priority to other countries," Ruiz, 35, said after a tearful phone call to family in Mexico's southern state of Chiapas at the San Juan Bosco migrant shelter, where the director reports about 100 deportees daily, a significant increase from pre-June 5 figures. This escalation follows President Joe Biden's executive order suspending asylum processing at the U.S.-Mexico border post-2,500 daily illegal crossing arrests.

The broad halt, effective June 5 and linked to a 40% drop in illegal crossing arrests, affects all nationalities but disproportionately targets those most likely to face deportation—particularly Mexicans and certain nationals Mexico agrees to take. Financial constraints, diplomatic challenges, and operation issues complicate deportations to many African, Asian, European, and South American countries. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas highlights ongoing U.S. efforts to work with global nations on accepting deported citizens, citing diplomatic and logistical hurdles. "The reality is that it is easier to remove individuals to certain countries than other countries," he said in a Tucson, Arizona interview. "We do remove individuals to Senegal, we do remove individuals to Colombia, we do remove individuals to India. It can be more difficult."

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)