Many Mexicans deported from the United States since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January were long-term U.S. residents, a new report indicates.
Between May and July, the Kino Border Initiative (KBI), an organization based in Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, conducted surveys with 278 Mexican deportees who had arrived at a Mexican government shelter in the latter city.
Of those 278 people, 44.4% reported having lived in the United States for more than 10 years, KBI said in a report titled “‘They Didn’t Let Me Say Bye’: Revealing the Human Toll of Deportations Today.”
Including deportees who had lived in the United States for six years or longer, the percentage rises to 57.1%. Just 5% of the deportees KBI surveyed reported having lived in the United States for less than one year.
KBI said that the high percentage of long-term residents being deported from the U.S. demonstrates “how current policies disrupt established families and communities.”
The Trump administration is aiming to deport large numbers of undocumented immigrants, carrying out immigration raids across the United States.
The New York Times reported in late June that immigration arrests had “increased nationwide and more than doubled in 38 states in the months since President Trump took office, new data shows.”
“Many states have seen even larger surges in enforcement activity in the last few weeks, after Mr. Trump’s top immigration adviser, Stephen Miller, demanded that agents make every effort to increase arrests,” the Times reported.
Earlier this month, President Claudia Sheinbaum said that her government had supported more than 86,000 Mexicans who were deported from the United States during the second Trump administration.
While KBI’s report is based on surveys with fewer than 300 deportees, it suggests that a significant number of the Mexicans deported from the United States this year had been living in the U.S. for a considerable amount of time and were thus long-term members of their local communities.
Deportees report family separations and unsafe detention conditions in US
In its report, KBI said that 39.2% of the deportees it surveyed “reported experiencing separation from family members, resulting in severe emotional and caregiving hardships.”
“… Many long-term residents were forcibly removed from their homes, leaving behind children, partners, and other dependents,” KBI said.
“… This dynamic not only places families at financial risk, since many repatriated men were primary breadwinners, but also criminalizes them by making legal reunification nearly impossible.”
KBI also said that “multiple testimonies reported dangerous conditions like medical neglect, overcrowding, exposure to toxic smoke, and significant emotional trauma in U.S. detention centers.”
“These abuses are exacerbated by the lack of adequate oversight and the push towards prosecutions of individuals for first-time illegal entry, which leads to longer detention times,” KBI said.
The organization noted that 84.3% of its survey respondents — based on 223 respondents who disclosed their gender — are men.
Other findings
KBI also reported that deportations are driven both by local law enforcement collaboration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. It said that “33% of deportations start with a regional or state law enforcement stop, and nearly half are from direct ICE operations, usually in public areas such as the street and courthouse.”
KBI said that 63% of surveyed deportees were detained in Arizona, a situation it described as “not surprising” given that “almost all deportations from the state have long been conducted through Nogales, and there are three detention centers in the state.”
“What is more striking is the fact that more than a third of people deported were detained elsewhere, some as far away as Florida, and transferred to Arizona for deportation. These transfers across multiple states and several detention centers take a significant toll on individuals,” KBI said.
The stories of 2 deportees
In its report, KBI also detailed the personal stories of more than a dozen deportees. Here are the stories of two of them (KBI changed names to protect the deportees’ privacy).
Manny:
Manny, who spoke “very limited Spanish,” told KBI staff that he didn’t understand why he was deported to Mexico as he was a lawful permanent resident of the United States and had never had any legal problems.
According to the KBI report, “he explained that he had hired a contractor to do some work at his home, and that was when both he and the worker were detained.”
“He mentioned that his family in the United States hired an attorney to fight his case. Still, since most of the communication had been handled by his relatives, he was not aware of the details regarding why he was ultimately deported. He was highly distressed and confused about the situation,” KBI said.
Andrea:
Andrea, a 30-year-old woman from Oaxaca, was deported to Mexico after Border Patrol detained her crossing into the U.S. through Naco in the summer of 2024, according to KBI.
Andrea “had previously lived in the U.S. since 2000 and is the mother of two U.S. citizen children, ages 15 and 14,” KBI said.
The organization said that she was a victim of sexual harassment while held at a detention center in Florence, Arizona, and noted that she had expressed fear about returning to Mexico.
“Andrea is also a survivor of gender-based violence perpetrated by her ex-husband. She fears what will happen to her now that she is back in Mexico, with no certainty that her ex-husband will not seek her or her children,” KBI said.
The personal stories of other deportees KBI surveyed are also harrowing.
The organization said that the testimonies it collected “reveal systemic deficiencies in U.S. enforcement and detention practices.”
KBI’s recommendations
KBI outlined a number of “key recommendations” in its report, directing them to the U.S. Congress, Arizona legislators and local officials and “allied organizations and individuals.”
It urged U.S. lawmakers to “publicly amplify the cases of community members, including DACA recipients, detained by immigration authorities through media interviews, public statements, and questions to administrative officials during hearings and other oversight opportunities.”
Among other recommendations, KBI said that “allied organizations and individuals” should speak with “neighbors, family, friends, and acquaintances about the stories contained in this report to invite them to understand the way that their community members are being affected by immigration enforcement” in the U.S.
Mexico News Daily
