While some undocumented immigrants, fearful of detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, are considering self-deportation, many Mexican immigrants won’t leave because of established roots in the U.S., according to Mexico’s migrant senator.
Sen. Karina Ruiz came across the border with her parents when she was a teenager. She received legal status through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and she continues to live in the Phoenix area.
She’s the first Mexican Senator specifically representing nationals living abroad.
Since January, the Trump administration rolled back humanitarian parole and halted asylum along the southern border. These actions include changing the CBP One asylum appointment app into CBP Home, a self-deportation tool. The Department of Homeland Security is also offering $1,000 to undocumented immigrants who leave the country voluntarily.
Ruiz said undocumented immigrants who are well-established in the U.S. are very likely to remain despite current detention and deportation programs. She said many of these people are living in families with mixed immigration status.
“They have children; they have grandchildren; they have businesses; they have roots here,” Ruiz said. “It's very hard to think that people are just going to make that decision of leaving everything they had behind and moving.”
Do you have a concern in your community or a news tip? We want to hear from you!
Connect with us: share@abc15.com
Most Hispanic immigrants are long-term U.S. residents. About three in four have lived in the U.S. for ten years or longer, according to KFF, which was formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Ruiz said she had seen more questions from immigrants about obtaining dual citizenship for their children born in the U.S. in preparation for the possibility of moving to Mexico.
The Mexican government set up a program called “Te Abraza" to embrace citizens who return voluntarily or involuntarily. Ten welcome centers have been set up along the border where they can start the relocation process by obtaining Mexican identity documents.
“They get a repatriation letter,” Ruiz added. “This letter is kind of the key to open any of the other benefits and assistance that they would be for them.”
Repatriated Mexican nationals would also receive $2,000 pesos, which is approximately $100, to help them with transportation to the city where they want to relocate. The centers can also assist with health-care enrollment, job leads, and even a psychologist.
“This is the least that we could do for them, to have a support system, for them to be able to reintegrate into our society in a dignified way,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz urges U.S. government leaders to reconsider their current immigration policies.
“Deportations cost money, and immigration reform will actually bring all those workers that are in the informal economy into a formal economy,” Ruiz said.
She believes the U.S. and Mexico would both see economic and security benefits if immigration policies were reformed to give legal status to more foreign workers.
Contact ABC15 Senior Investigator Melissa Blasius by email melissa.blasius@abc15.com or call 602-803-2506. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @MelissaBlasius , Facebook, and Instagram.
