The Mexican government has turned the state of Tabasco into a third border for migrants, a lawyer says
14ymedio, Ángel Salinas, Mexico City, February 7, 2025 — Cuban activist Jorge Cervantes García, one of the 2,539 migrants returned to Mexican territory in the first two weeks of Donald Trump’s government, tells 14ymedio that “Mexico and the United States have militarized their borders in an attempt to stop everything.” The opponent was forced by State Security to leave the Island in December, and now he is stranded with thousands of migrants in a country where he has nothing and his future is uncertain.
The member of the Cuba Primero movement and former militant of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) said that on December 23, he crossed the Rio Grande along with 15 other migrants and surrendered to the US authorities. The only thing the Border Patrol told them was that “the procedures were paralyzed.” They took photographs and fingerprints, recorded their data on a computer and, the next day, returned them to Mexico.
Cervantes García mentions that the Mexican government is sending deported migrants, including him, as far as possible from the border with the United States. Since last August, the Administration turned the state of Tabasco, in the extreme south of the country, into “the third border for foreigners,” says lawyer Arturo Manríquez. “The figures, updated to August, indicate that during the mandate of former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, 36,000,000 dollars were disbursed for the transfer of people in an irregular situation on flights and buses,” he adds.
The Cuban activist, who is in the Tabasco capital of Villahermosa, confirms that with these transfers, the city “has been crowded with people from all over the world without any guarantees or protection.”
In recent days, several flights have arrived with Cubans, desperate over their situation and the uncertainty about being returned to the Island. “Migration doesn’t tell us anything; they simply put us out on the street and close the gate” of the hostel, claims Cervantes García.
The opponent, banished by the regime for “asking for freedom,” is looking for work to be able to send money to his family. His situation is similar to that of many other migrants from the continent with whom he shares the city and the anxiety.
María Alejandra and her son Jhon Alexander are Venezuelans, who were deported by the United States. Since last week she has been in Villahermosa without money or a place to stay. She survives on the street by what people give her and is afraid of being kidnapped.
On her journey, the Venezuelan suffered two confinements against her will. “The mafia kidnapped me in Juchitán (Oaxaca) and separated me from my son. I spent almost five days without hearing from him,” she says. Her kidnappers kept her tied up; she was released after her mother paid $1,200. In Reynosa (Tamaulipas) she was again a victim of organized crime. “I felt helpless and afraid that they would do something to me.”
However, María Alejandra does not want to return to the Venezuela that she abandoned in search of a better future, and she trusts that Mexico will grant her asylum.
For her part, Niury, a Cuban doctor, says that she wanted to go to the United States and reunite with her family, but with the arrival of Trump, the doors to that country were closed, and her CBP One appointment was canceled.
The medical graduate points out that she left Cuba because she was tired of “so many lies and the dictatorship.” Her goal was to “search for freedom,” and she does not plan to return. Trying to find an alternative, she went to the offices of the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid in Tijuana to request refuge and hopes to stay in Mexico. “If I manage to work in my profession and everything goes well, I’ll stay here.”
President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government, at the beginning of February, offered the United States 10,000 Army soldiers and the National Guard to combat the passage of migrants and drugs, mainly fentanyl. In return, Trump suspended the 25% tariff on Mexican products for a month.
The Mexican president also confirmed the “voluntary” deportation by air of Hondurans. “Yesterday (Thursday) a flight left, and they are also being returned by land transport. If they want us to, we can accompany them so that they can return to their countries of origin,” she added.
That day, at the international port of San Ysidro, on the Mexican side, elements of the National Guard and the Criminal Investigation Agency checked every vehicle crossing the checkpoint. In addition, camps are being set up at strategic points along the border, in coordination with the municipal police and the state police, to detect the transfer of migrants, weapons and drugs in vehicles. The strategy also includes routes along the border.
This process, said the director of the Binational Center for Human Rights, Víctor Clark Alfaro, puts the integrity of migrants at risk. “National Guard agents are not trained in the field of migrants’ human rights and even less so in trying to stop them. That will complicate the situation and can create tensions between both groups.”
Clark Alfaro applauded the concern of the Sheinbaum Administration about the fentanyl problem. “Fentanyl is produced in Mexico and crosses to the United States. There is collusion with drug trafficking, which cannot be denied either.” However, the success of this operation will not be seen until the real shortage of this drug is reflected in the United States.
Translated by Regina Anavy
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
