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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | June 2005 
Flights for Illegal Immigrants Start Anewt
 Associated Press
| | Migrants wait to leave Mexico Citys airport Friday after arriving on a repatriation flight from Tucson, Ariz. (Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AP) |
Mexico City Ninety-four deported migrants arrived in Mexico's capital Friday on the first flight of a renewed U.S. repatriation program that left some pledging to try to cross again, while others said their border crossing days were over.
It was the beginning of twice-daily flights expected to bring thousands of Mexicans to their hometowns, and the second year of a U.S. program aimed at discouraging repeat border-crossers in desert areas, where temperatures soar during summer months.
"No, I don't think I'd try again. It's too tough a trip," said Oscar Castrejon, 30, a farm worker from Acapulco who walked three days in the Arizona desert before being detained and deported.
Nearby, Felipe Rendon, a farmer from Huautla, in southern Morelos state, said, "Of course I'll try again. There are no jobs here."
Even some nearly killed in the desert said they were thinking about the possibility of making another try.
"I was left alone in the desert after I twisted my ankle," explained 44-year-old Hugo Chacha Arceo of his two-day ordeal in Arizona. Abandoned, he crawled and limped into the brush to seek shelter from the sun, but then lost his bearings.
Still, asked about another attempt to cross, he answered, "That's something I would have to consider."
Greeted upon landing by the government's Grupo Beta migrant-aid agency, the deportees were given box lunches and free bus tickets to their home towns.
U.S. officials have budgeted $14.2 million to deport by air as many as 33,900 migrants who choose to participate in the program, saying they'd like to be transported all the way home - instead of being simply left on the Mexican side of the border.
The head of Mexico's National Immigration Institute, Magdalena Carral said the effort was worth it, even if some migrants planned to return. "You can't try to save money when it comes to saving lives," Carral said. "One life is worth it."
But she also noted the program "is not the solution. It is only a stopgap measure," and that a "legal avenue of recourse" was needed.
Pedro Espindola, head of Grupo Beta, said last year's program - which flew home about 14,000 migrants - "was a big benefit to those people, because it allowed them to reach their homes safely."
Washington plans 226 flights to Mexico City through Sept. 30 under an agreement with the Mexican government. People will be bused from Mexico City to their home towns, primarily in the southern part of the country.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection spent $15.4 million on the program from July 12 through Sept. 30, 2004, with some flights going to Guadalajara. However, all flights this year will be to Mexico City, and will use chartered Mexican, rather than U.S. planes. |
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