Mexican mayors respond to US President Trump’s threat of mass deportation of undocumented migrant workers
By Adriana Maciel
It is estimated that some 25 per cent of farm workers in the US are undocumented. President Trump has threatened to expel them. Mexican mayors like Ismael Burgueño of Tijuana, 20 miles south of San Diego, are preparing to receive them.
January 2025: On 20 January 2025, the day Donald Trump took office as President of the United States of America, more than 300 undocumented immigrants were arrested in the US and now await deportation. The arrests follow the newly installed President’s threats of mass deportations. It is estimated that some 11 million people currently live and work in the US without permanent residency.
Authorities in Mexican border municipalities have begun preparing shelters, food, and security in case the US President carries through with his plans to deport migrants from day one of his administration. Following the new US administration’s threats, municipalities in Tamaulipas, Chihuahua, Nuevo León and Baja California have begun preparing provisional spaces for people, whether Mexican or foreign nationals, who could be expelled from the US to Mexico.
Municipalities close to the northern Mexican border have asked the country’s federal government for support to operate reception facilities. The municipal administration of Tijuana, a city of some 2.3 million people 20 miles south of San Diego, has declared a precautionary emergency, with the city’s Mayor Ismael Burgueño saying, "we must be prepared". The declaration allows the local authority to sign contracts and make acquisitions needed to cope with the potential arrival of large number of migrants.
During the President-Biden years, between 100 and 150 migrants of Mexican origin and other nationalities arrived in Tijuana every day. However, if the mass deportation plan is carried out, the city will see a considerable increase in its temporary population.
"Some 92 per cent of those who could be deported would arrive in Tijuana and eight per cent in Mexicali, a neighbouring city- so we are working to organise ourselves in a preventive manner," Mayor Burgueño stressed.
Other municipalities in the states of Chihuahua and Tamaulipas are also preparing, even though they are not the first destination to which migrants could be sent.
Roberto Lucero, mayor of Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, said that due to the possible mass deportation, shelters have been set up in several municipalities in the state, including the one he governs. "The whole country is going to be affected by what the US might do. As we are only three hours from El Paso, Texas, of course, it will affect us. “We are preparing a reception centre that can accommodate more than 100 people."
Iván Rodelo Espejo, the Mayor of Ahumada, Chihuahua, a municipality near Ciudad Juárez, said that the city is preparing a shelter to cope with hundreds of migrants. "We have plans and are in touch with the federal government. So, we are prepared," the Mayor said.
The shelter will have a capacity for up to 300 people, which is 10 times the capacity of the current one. Costing some 42 million pesos (around two million dollars), the site is expected to provide accommodation and food for migrants returning to their country of origin.
Until the resources from the federal government arrive and can be used, the municipality plans to set up temporary shelters in sport halls and "in whatever we have" to receive people on the move.
In the case of Madera, Chihuahua, a house for migrants is already under construction, which will have the capacity to receive up to 600 people. "It will provide accommodation, food and lodging, and will also serve as a kind of nursery for the children who arrive, It is a large space with recreational areas. It is in a mountainous municipality where the temperatures are extremely low," said Mayor Arnoldo Jaquez Pérez.
The Mayor of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, José Alberto Granados, confirmed that Mexican nationals would be housed in municipal facilities while migrants of other nationalities would be sent to Mexico City. "Mexican nationals will be allowed to go to the temporary shelter. Foreign migrants will be taken care of by the foreign relations departments of the federal government in Mexico City. They will decide on the next steps of non-Mexican migrants,” the Mayor explained.
The mayor of Abasolo, Tamauipas, Yazmín Saldaña, explained that in her municipality, authorities are preparing shelters, sources of temporary employment and food support for migrants arriving in the coming weeks. "We have shelters set up because of the low temperatures, but these could also function as temporary shelters," she said.
Nataly García Díaz, Mayor of Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Tamaulipas, hopes that Trump will remain one of the US presidents who deports the fewest migrants, as he did during his first term in office. “Trump has been one of the presidents who has deported the lowest number migrants. But who can tell what is in his mind right now,” she said.
Others, such as the Mayor of Monterrey, Adrián de la Garza, who was also mayor of that city in 2017, considered that there is already experience of deportations that could be applied right away. "We have already had this experience with Trump, I was in charge of the city of Monterrey during Trump’s first term. So we already have some idea how he operates. Right now, we are waiting for decisions made by the federal government because it is a national problem,” the Mayor stated.
Other Mexican mayors are still hoping that Trump’s threats were electioneering rhetoric and that there will not be a large influx of migrants every day.
Sources: Mexican media: Expansión Politica, Alcaldes de México, Sin Embargo
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