The Government of Mexico reported this Thursday that from January 20, the date U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House and tightened anti-immigration policy, to December 17, there were 145,537 repatriations of Mexican citizens from the United States. The Secretary of the Interior, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, detailed in a press conference that of this total, 116,156 occurred by land and 29,381 by air, under the framework of the National Repatriation Strategy 'Mexico Embraces You'. Additionally, the official indicated that 99,924 people accepted to enter one of the assistance centers and that to the 45,613 who decided not to do so, 'food, access to phone calls, legal guidance, and support for travel to their place of origin are provided anyway'. Rodríguez explained that the network operates with nine centers in seven entities, with land returns in border states such as Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Tamaulipas, bordering the U.S., and air attention in Chiapas and Tabasco, in the south of the country. On the consular front, Roberto Velasco indicated that of the total repatriated, some 130,364 received consular assistance. He also reported 9,322 visits to detention centers, an average of 28 per day, 17,355 external legal advisories, 3,848 referrals to the migrant legal assistance program, 33 cases with resources for bonds totaling $146,000, and 75 medical repatriations. In turn, he pointed out that the 'Mexico with M for Migrant' raffle raised 115 million Mexican pesos (about $6.39 million), of which 50 million (nearly $2.78 million) will be used to reinforce legal representation and bonds, and 10 million (about $0.56 million) for visits to detention centers, as well as resources for humanitarian aid and preventive outreach. Regarding a pilot project to which the Mexican Government will allocate up to 300,000 pesos (about $16,666), Velasco estimated that with this action up to 200 people could be released on bond in the United States, and reported 13 initial beneficiaries in Chicago and Kansas.
