Mexicans Detained For Illegal Entry In Arizona-Sonora Region Can Opt For “Interior Repatriation”

IMMIGRATION LAW & POLICY

Removal Procedures and Defenses

Mexicans detained for illegal entry in Arizona-Sonora region can opt for “interior repatriation”
Immigrants' Rights Update, Vol. 18, No. 5, August 9, 2004

Under a U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security pilot program conducted in cooperation with the government of Mexico, Mexican nationals whom DHS agents arrest for illegal entry into the U.S. in what a DHS press release calls the “Arizona-Sonora region” are being given the option of being sent, at U.S. taxpayers’ expense, back to their hometowns in Mexico. Detained Mexicans who opt to be repatriated to their hometowns are flown by charter airplane from Tucson, Arizona, to either Mexico City or Guadalajara, Mexico, from where they are provided transportation by bus to their own towns.

The DHS undersecretary for border and transportation security, Asa Hutchinson, said that the program, which began in July and will end Sept. 30 at the latest, is intended “to save lives by safely returning Mexican nationals to their homes, away from the dangers of the Arizona-Sonora desert where smugglers and the harsh summer climate contribute to the deaths and injuries of illegal border crossers.”

Under the agreement with Mexico, only Mexican nationals who are charged with no crime other than illegal entry into the U.S. are eligible for the program. Eligible Mexicans who volunteer to be repatriated through the program are referred to the Mexican consul, who interviews them and determines whether they do indeed want to be returned to their hometowns. The DHS has agreed not to handcuff or otherwise restrain participants in this program while they are en route “unless exceptional safety conditions warrant it in an individual case.” Eligible persons who decline to be sent back to their hometowns are “repatriated to the northern border of Mexico through regular means,” the DHS press release says.

When the pilot program ends, the U.S. and Mexican governments will evaluate it and “recommend future plans.”