Juarez City.- Five out of ten irregular migrants found by Border Patrol agents in the El Paso Sector are of Mexican origin, whose nationality reached the highest monthly figure in the last four fiscal years in February, with a total of 15,767 registered crossings .
According to statistics released by the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP), in the last month, on average every 2.5 minutes, agents in charge of guarding the border found a Mexican migrant who had just entered United States through this region, but 90.89 percent (14,331) of them culminated in removal under the public health order called Title 42.
While the irregular crossing of other nationalities has been on the decline since the beginning of the US fiscal year 2023 (last October), that of compatriots has increased, since in October Border Patrol agents registered 8,637 encounters of Mexicans on the border, in November the figure was 7,979 and although in December it decreased slightly to 6,584, in January it doubled to 12,966 and in February it added 15,767 cases.
Last month it was the highest number of irregular crossings of Mexicans detected at least since October 2019, when there were 694 cases of Mexicans detained at the border.
According to official figures, during the entire US fiscal year (FY) 2020 (from October 2019 to September 2020), the El Paso Sector added 23,759 irregular crossings of Mexicans, 13,957 of which culminated in expulsion under the Title 42; in AF-2021 the figure increased to 60,065, 56,394 of which were returned under the health policy; and in AF-2022 there were 110,553 crossings, 104,649 of which were expelled.
During the first five months of fiscal year 2023 (from October 2022 to February 2023), border agents recorded 51,933 meetings of Mexicans at the border, of which 48,247 culminated in express expulsion to Mexico.
When comparing the months of February, in 2020 the United States registered 1,259 meetings, in 2021 it added 3,627, and in the same month last year the figure was 8,984.
Although the El Paso Sector covers more than 431 kilometers, from Lordsburg, New Mexico, on the Mexican border with El Berrendo, municipality of Janos, to Fort Hancock, Texas, before reaching El Porvenir, municipality of Praxedis G. Guerrero, of According to the US authorities, currently the point of greatest crossing of migrants is through the Santa Teresa station, which also covers the Sunland Park area.
According to Luis Dirvin García, coordinator of the Comprehensive Care Center for Migrants (CAIM) of the State Population Council (Coespo), during January and February they received at their offices daily, from Monday to Friday, between 80 and 180 people, of whom between 35 and 40 percent were of Mexican origin.
The majority came from states such as Oaxaca, Michoacán and Guerrero. The people from Oaxaca stated that they had to flee due to territorial conflicts, between communities, ethnic groups and between caciques of the region.
Those from Michoacán and Guerrero have indicated insecurity, organized crime and threats as the main causes of their migration.
The priest Francisco Javier Calvillo Salazar, director of the Casa del Migrante in Ciudad Juárez, reported that in addition to the people mainly from Michoacán, among the Mexicans who have been welcomed in the Catholic shelter in recent months, those from Guanajuato have also stood out, due to to the violence that exists in that state.
According to the Survey of Displaced Mexicans and Asylum Seekers in Ciudad Juárez (ENMEDESA-2022), carried out by the Interdisciplinary Group on Migration Issues (GITM), displaced compatriots who decide to stay in a shelter to cross the border regularly in seeking political asylum have had to wait for more than a year in the city’s shelters, due to the closure of the United States border with Mexico for migration, under the public health order called Title 42.
However, in the face of desperation, in recent months some Mexicans who were sheltered have opted to leave humanitarian spaces to pay the ‘coyotes’ or human traffickers for the irregular crossing into the United States, which has cost them up to 9 thousand dollars per person, already at this border, according to their testimonies.
9 md I paid ‘coyotes’ to enter the EU
Irregular crossings through the El Paso Sector
Mexican Fiscal Year Total %
AF-2023 51,933 224,893 23.09
FY-2022 110,553 307,844 35.91
AF-2021 60,065 193,918 30.97
FY-2020 23,759 54,396 43.67
Come from:
• Oaxaca
• Michoacan
• Guerrero
• Guanajuato
They flee for:
• Territorial conflicts between communities, ethnic groups and caciques
• Unsafety
• organized crime
• Threats
