“That they didn’t send us to this country,” an official said to Eduard, a Cuban who was deported back to Mexico by US immigration officials. “They treated us very badly. From the beginning they took us to the immigration center, they took our fingerprints,” he said.
Unexpectedly, however, he was twice brought back to Mexico along with dozens of people crossing the Rio Grande, all of them Cubans and Nicaraguans.
This Cuban assures that the return was made “without any explanation” about what happened to them. “Imagine how I feel. They took everything from us. I’m in flip flops, in shorts, I’ve suffered enough that I can show you the scrapes, the things trying to get into a country,” he lamented through tears.
The images were shared by young Cuban journalist Javier Díaz, who claims to have details of migration negotiations between the United States and Mexico governments to stop irregular traffic crossing the border.
“LAST MINUTE. Attention Cubans en route to the United States. In recent days there have been reports that anyone crossing the border illegally, particularly the Rio Grande, is being turned back to Mexico,” the reporter said.
“Here I leave you this report and what I have examined about the last meetings that the governments of Mexico and the United States had in this regard,” he argued.
Lawyers believe these returns are due to stricter compliance with Title 42.
“Mexico has better relations with Cuba and Nicaragua, and it’s easier to deport Cubans and Nicaraguans than it is for the United States government,” said attorney José Guerrero.
Mexican authorities reportedly agreed to accept more Cuban and Nicaraguan immigrants who were expelled by the United States under Title 42 of the Public Health Order.
Three US officials and two Mexicans, on condition of anonymity, revealed to The Washington Post that the deal could mean an increase in deportations of citizens of both countries, as the Mexican government would have more freedom to operate deportation flights to Cuba and Nicaragua.
The number of Cuban migrants detained at the southern border of the United States has hit record numbers in recent months. In April alone, nearly 35,000 were arrested by Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
That number tops the 32,000 reported in March and the 16,550 in February, which were already alarming numbers.
“During migration talks over the past few weeks, led by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Mexican officials agreed to take back significantly larger numbers of Cubans and Nicaraguans,” the report argues.
The newspaper reports that one of the officials asserted that the Mexican government “asked the United States to refrain from banning Cubans and Nicaraguans in certain areas, such as the busy Del Río Border Patrol sector, where processing capacity is lacking in both countries.” But the US official said the number of returning Cubans and Nicaraguans is likely in the thousands.
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