Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Tamaulipas (Agenzia Fides) - "For Mexico it is a great challenge to receive the thousands of Mexicans who are deported from the United States, after the government of this country established as a priority the indiscriminate arrest of illegal immigrants". This was stated by His Exc. Mgr. Gustavo Rodríguez Vega, Bishop of Nuevo Laredo, in theTamaulipas region in Mexico.
The denunciation on behalf of Mgr. Rodríguez Vega comes following the publication of the Holy Father’s Message when asked to increase the reception of migrants and to prevent discrimination against them (see Fides 25/10/2011).
The Bishop of Nuevo Laredo considers the expulsion of thousands of Mexicans an absurd measure, because it will leave thousands of Mexican children abandonned in the United States, when their parents are forced to return. Mgr. Rodriguez Vega also criticized the fact that thousands of Mexicans in the United States are considered criminals, instead of understanding that they have fled from Mexico due to extreme poverty.
The note sent to Agenzia Fides, says that Archbishop Rodriguez has examined a report by the Department of Homeland Security U.S. (DHS), which states that thanks to the use of new technologies and strengthening the application of law, illegal immigration into the U.S. fell by 30%.
This means over 100 thousand Mexicans were deported last year on the border of Tamaulipas, of which at least 80,000 travelled through Nuevo Laredo, according to figures provided by the government and the National Institute of Migration. Archbishop Rodriguez Vega complained that these people once they are stopped they are abandoned to their fate on the border with Mexico, without help and without money. Among them there are also the wounded and the sick. These people are away from families who do not know their conditions and cannot help them.
The Casa del Migrante in Nuevo Laredo said that last year, it welcomed around 10 000 migrants, half of whom were deported Mexicans, while in 2011 the municipal government has sent to their home areas about 650 people. But many migrants, displaced or not, remains in this city to try or try again to cross the border. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 26/10/2011)
