Mexico plans alert app for migrants facing arrest in US

By AFP
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Published December 28, 2024
Migrants from Venezuela walk in a caravan to the US-Mexico border where hundreds of others are stranded following a deal to expel Venezuelan migrants crossing into the United States after the new US-Mexico migrant policy, in Huixtla, Mexico October 15, 2022. — Reuters

MEXICO CITY: Mexico will launch a mobile application with an alert button for migrants facing imminent detention in the United States, the government said on Friday, following President-elect Donald Trump´s threats of mass deportations.

“If you find yourself facing imminent arrest, you press an alert button that sends a signal to the nearest consulate,” Mexican Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente told a news conference.

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The app, which is expected to be ready in January, will also notify the person´s family and the Mexican foreign ministry, he added.

There were an estimated four million unauthorized Mexican immigrants in the United States in 2022, according to the US-based Pew Research Center.

Mexico has dozens of consulates across the neighboring country.

The Mexican government has been in talks with other countries including Guatemala and Honduras about their own contingency plans for possible mass deportations after Trump takes office on January 20, according to De la Fuente.

He said there would be a ministerial-level meeting between countries that are sources of migrants later to discuss the issue.

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