The United States and Mexico quietly revived a deportation program in Tucson that officials from both countries say will keep captured migrants safely away from Mexican border cities. It’s the latest implementation of border policies specific to Mexican nationals.
The interior repatriation program as it’s called was used intermittently over the past decade.
Immigrants who crossed the border illegally are flown back to a large city within Mexico close to their hometown. The first flight of 150 Mexican nationals departed recently from Tucson.
Acting Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli said Thursday that Mexican nationals seeking asylum could be sent as far south as Guatemala to request refuge in that country.
(1/2) The United States and the Government of Guatemala are working closely together to continue implementation of the Asylum Cooperative Agreement. We are building protections that will be available to the region’s vulnerable populations closer to home—...
— Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli (@HomelandKen) December 19, 2019
