Mexico's Air Deportation PDF

Migration-Mexico Global Crimes By: Valeria Ferraris & GA Panchi-Vanegas 1 Before this invitation …? 2 Human Development Index 3 HDI in comparison 1990-2022 Human Develop...

Migration-Mexico Global Crimes By: Valeria Ferraris & GA Panchi-Vanegas 1 Before this invitation …? 2 Human Development Index 3 HDI in comparison 1990-2022 Human Development Index 4 5 6 7 How migration happen? 8  After reading: Mexico’s Air Deportation According to Campos-Delgado, I can say that Mexico has a big deportation machinery probably implemented because of the pressure from US 9  … Mexico’s deportation machine is as extensive as it is brutal. On average, Mexico expels 90% of the migrants intercepted by migration authorities and detainees are held for an average of 5 days before being expelled (CNDH, 2019, p.93). From 2001 to 2021, Mexican authorities expelled 2,588,009 migrants, 90% of whom were from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. (p.21) 10 Points US pressure Human Rhetoric Covid excuse Before Covid After Covid Payment National Guard 11 US extension, Agreement Mex- US, Tax increase. 12  Nancy Hiemstra (2019) calls this process the “the elasticisation of the US southern border”, in which the US extends its power through extra-territorial migration policing practices. Similarly, the terms “border-country” (Yrizar Barbosa 2011), “vertical border” (Yee Quintero and Torre Cantalapiedra 2016), and “arterial border” (Vogt 2017) have been used to describe the increasing securitization of migration in Mexico in response to the partnership with the US. (p.22) In late 2018 and early 2019, migrants from Central American countries, but also from other countries, organized themselves into caravans to enter Mexican territory and obtain greater security on their journey (Varela Huerta and McLean, 2019), in response to which the AMLO administration promised a policy of “open arms”. However, this new approach to migration was not well received by the US administration, and in June 2019, US President Donald Trump publicly threatened (via Twitter) to increase tariffs on Mexican products if Mexico did not curb the flow of irregular migrants. (p.24) 2019: “US-Mexico joint declaration on migration and refugees” 13 Mexico has a human rhetoric about migrants Yes policy: Open Arms, but… 14 AMLO’s administration is already marked by three major elements: (i) the repressive control towards the Migrant Caravans in the second half of 2019 and 2020, (ii) the fact that 2022 was the year with the highest number of apprehensions (444,439) in the history of Mexico, totalling 3,448, 412 events of irregular migrants intercepted from 2001 to 2022, and (iii) the fire in the facilities of the migration detention centre in Ciudad Juarez and the death of 40 migrants detained there in March 2023. (p.24) 15 The perfect excuse to increase the number of deportation was: Covid 16  … The INM*, in compliance with the health recommendations of the health authorities, as well as those of international organisations and the National Human Rights, on 20 April, announced the “Protocol for the prevention and care of suspected and confirmed cases of COVID 19 in the Migration Stations and Temporary Stays of the National Institute of Migration” (INM 2020), which aimed to (i) identify cases, (ii) prevent transmission, (iii) establish specific processes to provide care for suspected and confirmed cases, and (iv) “maintain order and safeguard the Migratory Stations and Provisional and Temporary Stays, in order to minimise the impact of COVID-19 transmission”. 17 Before COVID (2009-2019) migrants were deported on non- stop-buses* But… 18 Reports indicate that migrants are transported in buses without toilets or adequate ventilation, non-stop journeys that can range from 12 to 36 hours, poor food quality, and lack of medical certification to ensure that people are fit to travel. (and) the bus drivers becom[ing] de facto migration officers, carrying official migration documentation, and being directly responsible for the deported migrants while driving long hours under stressful conditions. (p.25) Non-stop-buses 19 During COVID the deportation maner change from buses to airplanes However* 20 In the first month of 2020, in the context of the Migrant Caravans that arrived at the southern border of Mexico on 18 and 20 January (IOM, 2020), the INM deported 1,064 migrants by air back to Honduras, through eight trips in aircraft of the Guardia Nacional – 824 migrants – and two by charter flights – 240 migrants – (INM 029/2020). In 2020, the INM deported 2,934 Central American migrants by air: 2,461 to Honduras, 406 to El Salvador, and 67 to Nicaragua (INM 171/2020). In 2021 the total number of people expelled in this mode almost tripled (17,002), and a total of 140 trips were made, i.e., 11 flights more than the previous year. In 2021, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador remained the three main destinations of these expulsions, yet, for each nation, expulsions by charter flight accounted for less than 20% of the total of expulsions that year, i.e., 15% for Honduras, 8% for Guatemala, and 19% El Salvador. In contrast, for Cuba, Haiti, and Ecuador, countries to which Mexico deports by air anyway, expulsions by charter flights were more significant, 32%,42%, and 37%, respectively. (p.29) ) 21 But… INM’s statements conveniently omit the case of the Salvadorean woman who died on 22 April 2020 from complications of COVID-19 in INM custody. (p.27) 22 The aerial tranfers have become the main way to deport migrants … besides there is concern about the private company which is in charge of these tranfers. 23  Grupo Aéreo Monterrey (Magnicharters) In 2020 the Mexican government and this company signed three “open contact[s] for the air transport service of foreign migrants, nationals and public servants through charter flights for the fulfilment of the activities and functions of the National Institute of Migration” and four in 2021, without competitive bidding. The contracts resulted in payment in 2020 of MX$190,457,561.82 (US$10,722,452.38) and MX$514,670,990.21 (US$28,975,143.50) in 2021 (FoI-INM- 03, 2022; FoI-INM-04, 2022), which represented 51% of the total expenditure of the “transport of persons” item in the INM budget in 2020 and 49% in 2021 (FoI-INM-05, 2022). 24 National Guard implementation in the Mexico’s southern border A clear militarising angle to this expulsion 25  The characteristic of these flights was that they were heavily securitized by the presence of both migration agents and National Guard agents. In the charter flights to Haiti, the Mexican government expelled an average of 80 migrants and there was an average of 38 custodial agents per flight with a 50–50 ratio in most cases. Likewise, in the charter flights to that year, the Mexican government expelled an average of 72 migrants and there was an average of 30 custody agents per flight, and a Cuba though in three of the four cases the ratio of migration agents to National Guard agents was 50–50, one case stands out in which National Guard agents outnumbered migration agents by five to 15. And we have the transfer of the body of Victoria Esperanza Salazar, a refugee from El Salvador who was killed by police brutality in March 2021. 26 The INM maintained its now traditional use of euphemistic rhetoric, emphasized a discourse on human rights compliance, and stressed a collaborative approach with destination countries, and although the visual materials added to the bulletins show official staff and deported migrants wearing masks, there is no reference to health provisions in the communiqués. The current Mexican administration (2018–2024) was not only pushed to break the promise of an “open arms” policy for migrants but also to implement stronger interception measures and militarize migration control, which in combination with the long-standing structural violence towards irregular migrants in the country has made it the most violent and lethal for irregularized migrants. 27 Conclusion 28  Global Crimes Migration-Mexico By: Valeria Ferraris & GA Panchi-Vanegas 29