The countdown to his return to the presidency has entered its final stretch. At the same time, the calm before the storm prevails on the border with Mexico.
There are preparations by both countries in anticipation of the measures announced by the new US president. For this reason, on the evening of January 17, the Mexican police carried out an evacuation operation in a migrant center in the city of Chihuahua.
Thousands of immigrants had found refuge there who reacted to the police raid. This resulted in clashes breaking out with some of the migrants lighting fires.
The Trump plan is immediately implemented
The new Trump administration intends immediately “after the inauguration.” That’s what two people familiar with the planning say. It’s the first step in President-elect Donald Trump’s goal of carrying out the largest deportation operation in American history.
The plan, dubbed “Operation Protection” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is expected to begin on Tuesday, the day after Mr. Trump, and will last until next Monday. However, the dates were still being finalized and could change.
The size of the planned operation was not clear. ICE routinely conducts deportations in cities across the United States. But the agency was taking additional steps to bolster the operation and tied it to Trump’s inauguration in a message sent to agency-wide personnel.
Hundreds of agents have been asked to volunteer and take part in the “post-swearing-in” operation that will target immigrants who are in the United States illegally. ICE plans to send about 150 agents to Chicago for the checks.
Mexico is getting ready
An official in the border state of Chihuahua said there were contingency plans to house up to 2,500 Mexicans who might be deported from the United States.
“We are working closely with our federal government to establish five reception areas for our citizens and help them return to their place of origin,” . “We will provide them with food and, if necessary, medical services,” he pointed out.
Three emergency shelters will be set up in Juarez and two in Ohinaga – south of Presidio, Texas. Locations will be announced as space is required for housing. Their combined maximum capacity will be about 2,500, he said.
The potential number of deportations is unknown
De la Peña said Mexico has no idea how many of its citizens living in the United States will be displaced if incoming President Donald Trump follows through on his campaign promises of mass deportations of unauthorized immigrants.
“We’ve had a benchmark on deportations since 2009 – this is our last benchmark and that’s what we’re preparing for,” the Chihuahua official said. “All the rest is speculation.”
The benchmark cited by De la Peña is the Obama administration’s 277,915 deportations of Mexicans in 2009. That was in addition to 468,722 documented voluntary returns, according to research by the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City.
According to the same survey, 1.3 million Mexicans living in the United States were either removed or offered voluntary return to Mexico by the Bush administration in 2004.
De la Peña did not mention the reception of immigrants from third countries. This has been a point of contention between Mexico and the Biden administration as well as the first Trump administration.
