Migrants stranded in Mexico amid U.S. policy shift
Migrants stranded in central Mexico after the cancellation of the U.S. CBP One program were in Coatzacoalcos, next to the train tracks, trying to decide whether they should extend their stay in the country and settle or wait for another legal way to reach the United States.
The Trump administration January 20 ended a program, known as CBP One, that allowed some migrants waiting in Mexico to enter the U.S. legally by obtaining an appointment on a government app. On Tuesday it said it was reinstating Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), an initiative that forced non-Mexican asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for the resolution of their U.S. cases.
The stranded migrants entered through the south of the country and are looking to board a train to continue their journey to the capital. Some hope to be able to get a job there and survive while potential options open up to reach the United States.
Organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, which operates in the area, requested Mexican authorities to take into consideration the new situation of the migrants and provide them with opportunities to get regularized in the country, obtain work, and prevent them from being at the expense of organized crime gangs.
Doctors without borders spokesperson Richard Ferreira said: "They (authorities) have to think about the people who are looking to cross the country or have a safe option in the country. I repeat, surely it is a difficult situation for the government, to manage all these situations and maintain a balance so as not to create a conflict and neither a humanitarian crisis."
Trump, who campaigned on a promise of mass deportations, designated illegal immigration a national emergency and tasked the U.S. military with aiding broader security on his first day in office. He also issued a broad ban on asylum.
A U.S. official said that the military would dispatch 1,000 additional active-duty troops to the Mexico-U.S. border on Trump's orders.
