SCOOP: The Mexican government has begun pushing back on a controversial Trump administration program forcing asylum-seekers to return to the country after more than 35,000 people were sent back to Mexico, BuzzFeed News has learned.
buzzfeednews.com/article/hameda…
Mexican officials have scuttled some of the plans by implementing caps on the number of people that can be returned to the country, limiting hours when they can be sent back, and refusing to take asylum-seekers on Sundays, according to a DHS briefing doc I obtained.
The move comes after more than 35,000 people were returned under the program since its inception at the beginning of the year, according to the document. The figure — the highest to date — has not been previously reported.
In El Paso, Mexican officials are no longer accepting asylum-seekers after 1 p.m. The decision has forced US Customs and Border Protection to detain immigrants who come from Mexico for their US court hearings in their custody overnight in more than half of all cases this month.
In some instances, the Mexican government has outright refused to take those who have been given final deportation orders but can appeal their cases, much to the chagrin of DHS officials.
The Mexican government has also begun bussing asylum-seekers returned to the country’s northern border to far-off locations such as Monterrey or Tapachula, a move that has puzzled DHS officials, according to the briefing document.
The effort, officials said, was poorly coordinated, and while it appeared it was designed to relieve overcrowding at the border, it was still unknown to US officials what Mexico’s intentions are.
I'd like to highlight @VMMacchi & @ramonctaylor's great report on Mexico busing migrants in MPP -- you should read it: voanews.com/usa/immigratio…
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