by WorldTribune Staff, March 14, 2017
Fearing that U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policies will lead to their arrest, or immediate deportation back home, large numbers of asylum seekers from Central America are seeking refuge in Mexico instead.
One El Salvadoran told a Honduran newspaper that the ultimate goal was to reach the United States, but that Mexico will have to do.
“We all preferred the United States, but little by little … all the people are staying” in Mexico, “in part” because of Trump, he said.
Mexico has begun accepting larger numbers of Central Americans who cross the border illegally, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.
“The radicalization of some measures with the new U.S. government makes us think that the number of applications will increase,” said Mexican Undersecretary of Migration Humberto Roque Villanueva, according to the Honduran newspaper La Tribuna.
“Last year nearly 9,000 people sought refuge and by 2017 the figure could be more than double. The rate of positive responses rose from 46 percent in 2015 to 63 percent in 2016,” said the newspaper.