Mexico will provide greater support to immigrants who remain in detention centers
Mexico has a budget of $13.6 million to provide legal advice to its immigrants threatened with deportation from the U.S.
Given the increase in detentions of Mexican immigrants without legal status in the United States, the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) pledged to provide them with greater legal advice to report human rights violations detected in some detention centers.
During a press conference, Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente announced that, as a result of raids carried out by agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE), 1,641 Mexican immigrants have been detained in different US cities.
Therefore, from January 20 to August 20, Mexican consular authorities have made 6,326 visits to immigration detention centers.
"Mexico rejects those practices that criminalize migration or that violate human rights or put the security and well-being of our communities at risk," he expressed.
In addition, 13,000 legal advice has been provided to immigrants interested in knowing how to react when visited by ICE.
For his part, Roberto Velasco Alvarez, an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he serves as head of the North American Unit, mentioned that after having interviewed 118 Mexicans detained at “Alligator Alcatraz,” a detention center located in the Florida Everglades, realized that the immigrants are being held in inadequate conditions, which have already been reported to U.S. authorities.
“(There are) unsuitable weather conditions, that is, low temperatures; prolonged stays due to delays in the registration processes and hearing dates; a number of detainees that exceeds the capacity of the detention center. Sometimes, (there are) problems with lack of hygiene and limitations in the medical care offered,” she said.
In this regard, Vanessa Calva, general director of Consular Protection and Strategic Planning, noted that, With the goal of bringing a network of lawyers closer to the Mexican community, the "External Legal Advisory Program" (PALE) is underway, with a budget of $13.6 million. Under this approach, more than 300 providers provide free or low-cost legal advice and representation to Mexicans in the main areas of U.S. law, more than half focused on immigration matters.