14ymedio, Chiapas, 25 January 2017 — Mexican Government authorities have reported the deportation of 70 Cuban migrants who were in the country without visas or transit permits. Among the deportees were 22 women and 48 men who were sent back to Cuba on Wednesday on a plane belonging to the Mexican Federal Police.
The returnees from the southern border of the country were gathered in the state of Chiapas before being deported.
All of them were waiting to obtain the exit permit that allowed them to travel freely and legally through Mexican territory for 20 days, in order to reach the United States. The new US immigration policy, initiated two weeks ago by the former Obama administration eliminated preferential status, encapsulated in the wet foot/dry foot policy – which was cancelled – and the Cuban Adjustment Act (which remains in effect as only Congress can repeal it), which provides special benefits to Cuban migrants once they reach the country.
With this latest deportation 161 Cubans have returned to the island since January 20
Since the suspension of the previous immigration policy, the Mexican Government offers Cubans without a visa the exit permit that would allow them to reach the United States. In contrast, Mexican authorities have since implemented the bilateral agreement with Havana, which allows the return of citizens of the Caribbean country if the Cuban consulates in Mexico agree to recognize them as Cuban citizens.
According to the National Institute of Migration (INM), all migrants were deported “in good health and provided the necessary assistance in strict compliance with their human rights.”
With this latest deportation 161 Cubans have now been returned to the island since January 20 when 91 other migrants were deported by the Mexican INM following the same procedure.
