A new report says more migrants are deciding to return home rather than face the consequences of President-elect Trump's planned border policies.
Mexican officials say between 50 and 100 migrants have applied for “voluntary repatriation” to their home country, either paying for it themselves or relying on state funds. Some immigrants say their fears stem from President Trump's plan to eliminate a U.S. government app used by Border Patrol agents to apply for asylum.
“I believe we will arrive before Trump takes office,” Johana, one of the migrants, told Reuters. “Even if you don’t have to make a reservation, there’s always a way.”
President Biden's administration is using the application to allow hundreds of thousands of migrants to schedule their border crossings and apply for asylum in the United States. Officials in the incoming Trump administration announced they would eliminate the program and reintroduce a “Remain in Mexico” policy.
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Many migrants are seeking to return home in anticipation of President Trump's border policies. (Fox News)
Migrants waiting for appointments in Mexico will be stranded in Mexico if a date is not decided by the start of President Trump's term, giving them the option of attempting to enter the country illegally, remaining in Mexico pending asylum proceedings, or returning home. It becomes something.
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Thanks to Mexico's dangerous cartel environment, many say they want to return home.
“I cry every day and ask God to take me back. I don't want to be here anymore…This is terrible,” said Yureidi Moreno, a migrant who has not yet received an appointment.
President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to reform the immigration system after taking office. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Nydia Montenegro, another immigrant in the same position, said she would choose to return to her homeland if she could.
“I'm traumatized. If I don't get an appointment, I'll go again,” she told Reuters.
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Officials in the Trump administration emphasized that the policy was aimed at discouraging migrants from making the dangerous journey through Mexico to the U.S. border. Migrants are often kidnapped and exposed to cartel violence.
Tom Homan disputed claims on ABC's “The View” that President Trump is deporting legal U.S. citizens as part of a mass deportation plan. (Fox News)
Trump's next border czar, Tom Homan, said the new administration would stop illegal immigration and eliminate cartels “from the face of the earth.”
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“They have killed more Americans than any other terrorist organization in the world, and President Trump calls them a terrorist organization and will use the full force of U.S. special operations to eliminate them,” Homan said on Fox News last month. I'm working hard on that,” he said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
