Deportations from the U.S. to Mexico Under Scrutiny

The Trump administration has deported nearly 13,000 individuals from Cuba, Venezuela, and other countries to Mexico. This leaves them vulnerable to cartel violence in an unfamiliar country, according to a Human Rights Watch report released on Wednesday.

Mexico has accepted such deportations for years. However, those deported by the current U.S. government are typically older and have lived in the U.S. longer. This makes it harder for them to find jobs and increases the urgency for medical attention.

Imagine being 60 or 70 years old, forcibly removed from your life overnight and sent to a country you don’t know. Authorities leave you without even the most basic services like shelter or medical care. They abandon you in dangerous cities with nothing but the clothes on your back, said Alcira Hava, a Leonard H. Sandler fellow at Human Rights Watch who worked on the report. That is the reality for many Cubans deported to Mexico, Hava added.

The report, based on over 50 interviews in the southern Mexican cities of Tapachula and Villahermosa, was published during a wide-ranging immigration crackdown by U.S. President Donald Trump. His plan for mass deportations has ensnared immigrants who were not previous targets, including Cubans who had lived in the U.S. for decades.

Countries like Cuba and Venezuela limit deportation flights or do not accept deportees at all. Therefore, deportees are often sent to Mexico or other countries that have agreements with the U.S.

Cubans make up the largest group sent to Mexico, with over 4,300 deported. More than half of the 41 Cubans interviewed had been in the U.S. since the 1980s or 1990s. Most had lost their permanent residency cards. While more than half had a criminal record, only 16% had committed violent crimes, and a quarter had no criminal history at all.

Most were detained during routine immigration checks, while some were arrested at work or in public spaces. None had the opportunity to contest their deportation to Mexico in court, even when they expressed fears for their safety.

The Cuban diaspora, previously supported by the Cuban Adjustment Act for expedited residency and citizenship, has been shocked by the scope of Trump’s immigration offensive.

Once in Mexico, these deportees are sent to southern cities with few job opportunities and limited healthcare. Cartels exploit them, and the process of obtaining refugee status is complex, if eligibility requirements are even met. A shelter in Villahermosa, which typically hosted young men and families, has recently sheltered Cubans as old as 83, showing the change in the typical profile of deportees.

Josué Leal, a shelter worker, described the situation as a double punishment. “The U.S. discards them. Cuba discards them,” he said.

It remains unclear how these deportations to a third country are conducted, as neither the U.S. nor Mexico has disclosed the agreement. Human Rights Watch urged both countries to reveal the agreement and ensure due process and international legal rights are respected.

The organization also called on Mexico to provide medical access and a way to regularize the immigration status of those unable to return to their home countries. Meanwhile, it urged the U.S. to halt these deportations until such guarantees are in place.