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 News from Around the Americas | July 2006 
Feds Resume Flying Captured Migrants Back to Mexican Interior
 Arthur H. Rotstein - Associated Press
| | A member of the Mexican immigration check an illegal immigrant in Mexico City, on Friday July 7, 2006. Deported migrants arrived in Mexico's capital Friday on the 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. (AP/Eduardo Verdugo) |
Tucson, Ariz. – For the third straight summer, federal officials are flying some illegal immigrants back to the Mexican interior after they've been caught crossing into Arizona.
The first repatriation flight this year carried 67 people – all considered at risk to their health if they were to try crossing the desert again and all volunteers – from here to Mexico City on Friday.
From there, they were to be bused to destinations near their homes in central and southern Mexico, officials said.
There will be two daily flights, carrying up to 300 people in all, during the summer, when most desert deaths occur.
The interior repatriation program targets people considered most at risk, including those caught who are close to dehydration, who are exhausted or in need of medical attention, said Russell Ahr, a spokesman in Phoenix for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The intent is to decrease the number of migrant deaths in the Arizona desert and to try to disrupt border smuggling activities by “reducing the number of people who get recycled,” Ahr said.
Many of those who are returned to Mexican border cities immediately encounter smugglers or paid guides who persuade a number to try crossing into the United States again.
The government of Mexico as well as the Border Patrol and Customs recognize interior repatriation as a step “to get them away from the border and discourage that quick turnaround that some of them have been availing themselves of,” Ahr said.
The program targets women and children in general, and particularly women who might be pregnant, Ahr said.
“This is a voluntary program, so they are screened both by agency and (Mexican) consular officials from Mexico to make sure they fit the criteria for the program and are willing participants,” he said.
Processing and screening of apprehended Mexican nationals is conducted at Nogales and Yuma.
Illegal immigrants identified as criminals will not be eligible to participate; nor will minors unaccompanied by adult relatives, Ahr said.
During 2004, the first year of operation, it lasted for 81 days, returning 14,067 people on 151 flights at a cost of $15 million, Ahr said.
Last summer, the program ran for 113 days, repatriating 20,592 people aboard 225 flights. It cost $13.6 million.
“We will just have to wait and see ... what kind of demand is put on the program” this summer, Ahr said.
The repatriation program was operated by Customs and Border Protection and the Border Patrol previously, but has been shifted under an appropriations change within the Department of Homeland Security's budget, Ahr said.
The flights are operated by Aeromexico as a subcontractor for CSI Aviation Services. |
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