Nearly 12,000 Central American migrants in Mexico have gone back since January

by Anna Giaritelli
| March 05, 2019 09:35 AM




Thousands of primarily Central American migrants who traveled to Mexico with the intent of making it to the United States have instead chosen to return home in 2019, according to local media.

Since Jan. 1, roughly 11,600 migrants who got to Mexico asked the government's National Institute of Migration (INM) and the United Nations migration agency to help them get back home.

The numbers are notable as the Trump administration periodically plays up threats posed by Central American migrants coming through Mexico. President Trump and supporters contend the would-be U.S. residents are a public safety and health hazard, while critics blast Trump administration detention and deterrence policies.

The majority of migrants, 10,526 people, have asked the Mexican government to take care of their return travel, Heraldo de Mexico reported Tuesday.

The UN's International Organization for Migration worked with 79 people from Nov. 4, through Feb. 22. The remaining migrants who informed one of the groups they were going home may have returned on their own, or with the help of another organization.

IOM stepped in last October when around 10,000 migrants traveled in a large caravan to the U.S. Since the fall, IOM has documented where migrants are coming from. Seven in 10 are Honduran citizens and 25 percent are from El Salvador.

In addition, 83 percent are men and 17 percent are women.
The Mexican government has deported an additional 192 people this year.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/n...-since-january