(EFE).- The first deportation of Venezuelan migrants by the United States government surprised this Thursday hundreds of compatriots and migrants of other nationalities stranded in the Mexican city of Tapachula, in the state of Chiapas, on Mexico’s southern border, trying to reach the American Union .
Venezuelans asked the US government for an extension to allow their compatriots stranded in Tapachula to reach the northern border.
This Thursday, United States Secretary of National Security Alejandro Mayorkas warned Venezuelan migrants that they would fail if they attempted to enter the United States irregularly and urged them to apply for one of the protection visas announced by the government.
Migrants from Venezuela and other countries announced that hundreds of people from Venezuela, Colombia, Nicaragua and other nationalities are coming to reach the United States.
Mayorkas made the move a day after the United States and Mexico struck an agreement under which the US government will offer 24,000 visas to Venezuelans and return to Mexican territory all those who cross the border irregularly.
However, in Tapachula, migrants from Venezuela and other countries announced that hundreds of people from Venezuela, as well as Colombia, Nicaragua and other nationalities are coming to reach the United States.
Faced with the possible return of Venezuelans, the Siglo XXI migration station, a place set up by Mexico’s National Institute of Migration (INM) for the temporary housing of migrants who cannot prove their regular immigration status, announced this Thursday that it is preparing to host prepare hundreds of Venezuelan migrants.
Venezuelan Joan Blanco told EFE that “he is desperate and unsure after the lack of information” and lamented that the United States government “did not set a deadline” for entering US territory.
“It affects us in every way because we are already in Mexico and we had free passage and now we don’t have it anymore, they closed it for us, we ask them to find a solution because we will continue to move forward and complete the Way to the United States,” he revealed.
Meanwhile, a Venezuelan migrant, who preferred anonymity, said the news “stunned us” because she and her compatriots come from “a country where they have nothing and started their journey in search of a better future.” Why are we going back to Venezuela? “.
Most of these Venezuelan migrants entered Mexico irregularly via the border with Guatemala and reached Tapachula, bypassing immigration checkpoints in Central America and Mexico.
In Tapachula, migrants have not given any warning in the last few hours that a caravan will leave because they either don’t know what to do or are waiting for more migrants to organize themselves, while agents from the National Institute for Migration (INM) and the Mexican Army began operations in central Tapachula.
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard stated that the undocumented Venezuelans the United States is deporting to Mexico have already passed through Mexican territory, so they are not new migrants.
Referring to the United States’ new program, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard stated that the undocumented Venezuelans the United States is deporting to Mexico have already passed through Mexican territory, so are not new migrants.
He stressed that “the most important thing” is that it allows Venezuelans to do their paperwork remotely without having to “make the trip” to the US border.
In addition, he asserted that Venezuelans in Mexico already outnumbered Central Americans and explained that many in the country had sought refuge.
The US plan is similar to the one already in place for citizens of Ukraine, granting a two-year temporary status to those with a US sponsor.
The US announcement comes amid a surge in arrivals of Venezuelans at the border with Mexico. Between October 2021 and August this year, more than 150,000 Venezuelans were arrested at the US southern border, compared to 50,499 in the same period last year.
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