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Mexico All but Empties Official Migrant Centers in Bid to Contain Coronavirus

Reuters

   MEXICO CITY - Mexico has almost entirely cleared out government
   migrantcentersover the past five weeks to contain the spread of the
   coronavirus pandemic, returning most of the occupants to their
   countries of origin, official data showed on Sunday.

   In a statement, the National Migration Institute (INM) said that since
   March 21, in order to comply with health and safety guidelines, it had
   been removing migrants from its 65 migrant facilities, which held 3,759
   people last month.

   In the intervening weeks, Mexico has returned 3,653 migrants to
   Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador by road and air, with the result
   that only 106 people remain in thecenters, it said.

   The institute's migrantcentersand shelters have a total capacity of
   8,524 spaces, the INM said.

   Victor Clark Alfaro, a migration expert at San Diego State University,
   said the announcement went hand in hand with the Mexican government's
   readiness to keep migrant numbers in check under pressure from U.S.
   President Donald Trump.

   "Today, Mexico's policy is to contain and deport," he said.

   There are dozens of other shelters run by a variety of religious and
   non-governmental organizations throughout the country that continue
   toharbormigrants.

   Among those who remained in the INMcenterswere migrants awaiting the
   outcome of asylum requests or judicial hearings, and others who had
   expressly sought permission to stay, a migration official said.

   The vast majority of those sent back were migrants detained by
   authorities because they were in Mexico illegally, said the official,
   who spoke on condition of anonymity.

   Some no longer wished to stay incentersbecause of the risk of
   coronavirus infection, the official added.

   Most of the migrants passing through Mexico to reach the U.S. border
   are from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

   More than 80 Guatemalan migrants deported to their homeland from the
   United States have tested positive for the coronavirus.

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