The Trump administration has deported nearly 13,000 Cubans, Venezuelans and other nationals to Mexico, where they are vulnerable to cartel violence in an unfamiliar country, according to a report by Human Rights Watch released Wednesday.
Deportees Face Harsh Conditions
While Mexico has accepted such deportations for years, the deportees under the Trump administration are older and have lived in the U.S. for longer than in the past, making it harder for them to find work and increasing the need for medical care. The report, based on more than 50 interviews in the southern Mexican cities Tapachula and Villahermosa, comes as President Donald Trump has expanded immigration enforcement to carry out his mass deportation plan.
This has meant that immigrants previously not targeted, such as Cubans with years or decades living in the U.S., have been caught in the immigration dragnet. Some countries, like Cuba and Venezuela, limit deportation flights or do not accept deportees at all, so they are instead sent to Mexico or other countries with which the U.S. has struck deals.
Human Rights Watch Condemns Practice
“Imagine being 60 or 70 years old, uprooted from your life overnight and sent to a country you don’t know, where authorities leave you out to dry without access to even the most basic services — shelter, healthcare. Imagine being dropped in dangerous cities with nothing but the clothes on your back,” said Alcira Hava, Leonard H. Sandler Fellow at Human Rights Watch, who worked on the report. “That’s the reality for many Cubans deported to Mexico.”
Cubans represent the largest group sent to Mexico, with more than 4,300 deported. More than half of the 41 Cubans interviewed had lived in the U.S. since the 1980s or 1990s, arriving during the Mariel boatlift or lottery program. Most had a green card but had lost it.
More than half of the deported Cubans had a criminal record, but only 16% were for violent crimes, according to researchers. One-fourth had no criminal history. Most were detained at routine check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but some were detained at their workplace or in public spaces. None were taken before a judge to contest their deportation to Mexico, even when they expressed fear for their safety.
Cuban Diaspora Shocked by Crackdown
The Cuban diaspora, with access to a fast-tracked pathway to residency and citizenship through the Cuban Adjustment Act, has been shocked by the extent of Trump's immigration crackdown. Once in Mexico, deportees are sent to southern cities with few job opportunities, limited access to medical care, and where cartels prey on them. They face a complicated logistical process to receive refugee status in Mexico, if they even qualify.
A shelter in Villahermosa has received Cuban deportees as old as 83 in the past year, a departure from the young men and families it usually receives, according to shelter worker Josué Leal. “The U.S. discards them. Cuba discards them,” Leal said, calling it a form of “double punishment.”
Call for Transparency and Due Process
How the third country deportations are being carried out is unclear, since neither the U.S. nor Mexico has made the agreement public. HRW called for both countries to publish the agreement and to ensure that due process and international law is respected in these cases. It called on Mexico to ensure access to medical treatment and a pathway to legalize immigration status for those who cannot return to their home countries. It called on the U.S. to suspend these deportations, barring these guarantees.
