‘I am traumatized’: Migrants in Mexico choosing to turn around after Trump’s election victory

Disillusioned with President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming immigration agenda and terrified of the level of crime in Mexico, many migrants are choosing to go back to their home countries.

Between 50 to 100 Venezuelan nationals in Mexico are now requesting what is known as “voluntary return” every week, according to a Venezuelan official who spoke with Reuters, who added that many of these migrants have faced perilous situations in Mexico, such as kidnappings and sexual exploitation. A dozen migrants in Mexico told the news outlet that they would prefer to go back to their home countries, despite whatever issues drove them to leave in the first place.

A major point of contention is Trump’s promise to scrap the CBP One app, which has been used by hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals to schedule asylum appointments with U.S. officials. More migrants feel the obstacles to come from Trump make it no longer worth waiting in Mexico, where many of them have been subjected to extortion, sexual assault, kidnappings, and a slate of other violence from cartels and other dangerous individuals taking advantage of the migration crisis.

“I am traumatized. If I don’t get the appointment, I will go back,” Nidia Montenegro, a 52-year-old Venezuelan national, said to Reuters.

Trump — who already established himself as an immigration hardliner during his first term in office — has vowed to embark on a number of hawkish measures for his second term, such as executing the largest deportation initiative in U.S. history, resuming wall construction, restarting the Remain in Mexico program and a number of other proposals

“As President, I will immediately end the migrant invasion of America. We will stop all migrant flights, end all illegal entries, terminate the Kamala phone app for smuggling illegals (CBP One App), revoke deportation immunity, suspend refugee resettlement, and return Kamala’s illegal migrants to their home countries (also known as remigration),” Trump posted on X in September.

First launched in October 2020 by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) primarily for cargo inspections, the CBP One app was expanded incredibly in January 2023 to include migrants waiting in Mexico hoping to schedule asylum appointments. More than 800,000 foreign nationals have scheduled appointments to present at ports of entry since the app’s expansion in January 2023, according to CBP.

While there have been reports of human smugglers urging migrants to rush to the southern border before Trump takes office and immigration officials have braced for such a possibility, border crossing numbers and on-the-ground interviews have largely suggested that most migrants feel defeated after Trump’s election victory. Todd Bensman, a national security fellow for the Center for Immigration Studies, reported Tuesday that “most everyone” he interviewed at a migrant camp in Mexico City said that they’re giving up and going home after Trump is inaugurated and cancels the CBP One app program.

Nevertheless, there are some who are still holding on to hope that they will land an appointment before the Republican re-enters the White House.

“I trust I will arrive before Mr. Trump takes office,” Johana, a young Venezuelan national hoping to cross from Guatemala to Mexico, said to Reuters. “If it’s not by appointment, there’s always a way.”

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