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1 1 (January 3, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govegtz0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service Maan Inforrming the legislative debate since 1914 Mexico's Immigration Control Efforts Background Since 2014, periodic increases in unauthorized migration from the Northern Triangle of Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) have overwhelmed Mexican and U.S. officials. Mexico, like the United States, has struggled to deal with large numbers migrants, especially families and unaccompanied minors from that subregion and elsewhere, many of whom seek asylum. Mexican President Andres Manuel L6pez Obrador has accommodated Trump and Biden Administration policies that shifted some of the burden of interdicting migrants and hosting asylum seekers from the United States to Mexico. Figure I. Mexico: Reported Apprehensions of Migrants from Northern Triangle Countries and Asylum Applications, 2010-2021 Apprehensions from Asylum Applications N. Triangle Countries I&OK 14 OK 120K Not from 12fk( 100K 60K 60K 40K OK <~>20K SOK 2010 2020 2010 2020 *Apprehensions data through October 2021 excludes cases under revew asylum app ications data through November 2021. Asylum country of origin not available before 2013 and all data are based on preliminary figures. Source: CRS, based on information from Mexico's Secretary of the Interior. President Joe Biden revised some restrictive Trump Administration policies, but two of those policies (discussed below) remain in effect at the U.S.-Mexico border. President Biden proposed a comprehensive immigration reform bill (S. 348/H.R. 1177), which would create a regional migration management system. Vice President Kamala Harris has led efforts to secure Mexico's help in addressing the root causes of migration, interdicting migrants, and combating alien smuggling and human trafficking. In July 2021, the Biden Administration released a Collaborative Migration Management Strategy that aims, among other goals, to encourage burden sharing among countries for sheltering vulnerable migrants. Immigration Control Since 2014, with support from the United States, Mexico has established naval bases on its rivers; security cordons north of its borders with Guatemala and Belize; and drone surveillance. Unarmed agents from the National Migration Institute (INM) have increased operations along train routes and at bus stations. INM has improved infrastructure at border crossings and created mobile highway checkpoints. INM also has sought to professionalize its workforce and to improve coordination with customs and federal, state, and Updated January 3, 2022 local security forces. Despite reform efforts, corruption within INM and impunity for crimes against migrants have increased migrants' vulnerability to crime and other abuses. In December 2018, President L6pez Obrador took office, endorsing a humanitarian approach to migration and pledging to promote development in Central America as a solution to unauthorized migration. Nevertheless, he did not increase funding for Mexico's backlogged Commission for the Aid of Refugees (COMAR). His government's austere budgets do not reflected his pledges to invest in the Northern Triangle. Since April 2019, L6pez Obrador has taken a harder line toward migration, in part due to U.S. pressure. His government has increased migrant apprehensions (see Figure 2) and has restricted access to humanitarian visas, particularly for those traveling in large groups (caravans). As during prior enforcement surges, migrants have taken more dangerous routes and increased their reliance on smugglers. After Mexico deployed its new National Guard for immigration enforcement in 2019, reports of mistreatment of migrants rose. In a January 2021 incident, state police reportedly killed 19 people, including Guatemalan migrants, near the U.S. border. In 2021, Mexico sought to keep asylum seekers in southern Mexico despite dire conditions there; began requiring visas for those from Brazil, Ecuador, and Venezuela; and expelled some Haitian migrants to Haiti and Central Americans to Guatemala. Figure 2. Mexico: Recent Trends in Reported Apprehensions of Central American Migrants Apprehensions 30kt 20K i F M AM JJ A SONr DiJ F MAM:J i A S0 2020 2021 * excludes casesunder review. Source: CRS, based on data from Mexico's Secretary of the Interior. Humanitarian Protection Mexico has a broader definition of refugee than the United States and the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention; Mexico recognizes a right to asylum based on generalized violence; foreign aggression; internal conflicts; massive

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