MATAMOROS: Mexican soldiers rushed Thursday to set up emergency shelters near the border with the United States ahead of President Donald Trump’s threatened mass deportations.
The Mexican government said it planned to open nine shelters for its citizens and three more for deported foreigners, without clarifying the total capacity, under a scheme called “Mexico embraces you.”
President Claudia Sheinbaum said this week that Mexico would provide humanitarian assistance to deported migrants from other countries before repatriating them.
On Thursday, she said that two of the reception centers were expected to be ready by the end of the day and the others by the weekend.
They will be equipped with kitchens and bathrooms and will offer food, health services and counseling.
In the northeastern city of Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas, navy personnel were seen erecting a shelter on a large sports field, according to an AFP correspondent.
The facilities included olive-green tents for military personnel who will be in charge of security, as well as a metal structure that will house tents for the deportees.
The Matamoros shelter — one of three being built in Tamaulipas state — will be able to accommodate around 3,000 people, according to municipal authorities.
“We expect to receive 200 to 250 people a day,“ said Alberto Granados, mayor of the city on the banks of the Rio Grande river which snakes along the border.
Last week another Mexican border city, Tijuana, just south of California, declared an emergency to free up funds to deal with the potential arrival of deportees.
Carlos Pena, the mayor of Reynosa, across the border from Texas, warned this week that “there is not enough space” in shelters and the situation could become “critical.”
On his first day back in office on Monday, Trump declared a national emergency at the US southern border and vowed to deport “millions and millions” of migrants.
His administration said it would also reinstate a “Remain in Mexico“ policy that prevailed during Trump’s first presidency, under which people who apply to enter the United States from Mexico must remain there until their application has been decided.
The White House has also halted an asylum program for people fleeing authoritarian regimes in Central and South America, leaving thousands of people stranded on the Mexican side of the border.
On Wednesday, Trump’s office said he had ordered 1,500 more military personnel to the border.
Mexico’s government announced in December that it would launch a mobile app with an alert button for migrants facing imminent detention in the United States, where there are several million undocumented Mexicans.
